Facebook bans former U.S President Donald Trump for 2 years

Trump reacts says ban an insult to 75 million voters

Facebook has suspended former U.S. President Donald Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts for two years.

The social media giant on Friday said it found Mr Trump’s actions on Facebook during the U.S. Capitol riots were a severe violation of its rules.

In a statement signed by its Vice President of Global Affairs, Nick Clegg, he said the two-year suspension is effective from the date of the initial suspension on January 7 this 2023.

“Given the gravity of the circumstances that led to Mr. Trump’s suspension, we believe his actions constituted a severe violation of our rules which merit the highest penalty available under the new enforcement protocols. We are suspending his accounts for two years, effective from the date of the initial suspension on January 7 this year,” the statement reads.

“At the end of this period, we will look to experts to assess whether the risk to public safety has receded. We will evaluate external factors, including instances of violence, restrictions on peaceful assembly and other markers of civil unrest. If we determine that there is still a serious risk to public safety, we will extend the restriction for a set period of time and continue to re-evaluate until that risk has receded.

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“When the suspension is eventually lifted, there will be a strict set of rapidly escalating sanctions that will be triggered if Mr. Trump commits further violations in future, up to and including permanent removal of his pages and accounts.”

“We know today’s decision will be criticized by many people on opposing sides of the political divide — but our job is to make a decision in as proportionate, fair and transparent a way as possible,” he said.

Mr Trump’s suspension comes after a Facebook oversight board criticized the initial indefinite suspension slammed on the former president’s accounts in January over the controversial posts he made which were deemed to have incited riots at the U.S. Capitol, the country’s legislative headquarters.

Reacting to the development, former US President Donald Trump called his two-year ban by Facebook was an “insult” to voters, renewing his false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him.

“Facebook’s ruling is an insult to the record-setting 75M people, plus many others, who voted for us in the 2020 Rigged Presidential Election,”

“They shouldn’t be allowed to get away with this censoring and silencing, and ultimately, we will win. Our country can’t take this abuse anymore!” Trump said in a statement.