Mark Zuckerberg has placed an indefinite ban of the President of the United States of America, Donald Trump on its platform Facebook and Instagram over the incitement of violence.
Zuckerberg made this announcement on his Facebook page stating that the ban was initiated due to the incitement of violence by the President on Wednesday.
He also revealed that the ban will last ‘for at least the next two weeks until the peaceful transition of power is complete.’
Vice President Mike Pence has acknowledged Joe Biden as President-elect and the transition process has begun.
Read his broadcast below:
The shocking events of the last 24 hours demonstrate that President Donald Trump intends to use his remaining time in office to undermine the peaceful and lawful transition of power to his elected successor, Joe Biden.
His decision to use his platform to condone rather than condemn the actions of his supporters at the Capitol building has rightly disturbed people in the US and around the world. We removed these statements yesterday because we judged that their effect — and likely their intent — would be to provoke further violence.
Following the certification of the election results by Congress, the priority for the whole country must now be to ensure that the remaining 13 days and the days after inauguration pass peacefully and by established democratic norms.
Over the last several years, we have allowed President Trump to use our platform consistent with our own rules, at times removing content or labelling his posts when they violate our policies. We did this because we believe that the public has a right to the broadest possible access to political speech, even controversial speech. But the current context is now fundamentally different, involving the use of our platform to incite violent insurrection against a democratically elected government.
We believe the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great. Therefore, we are extending the block we have placed on his Facebook and Instagram accounts indefinitely and for at least the next two weeks until the peaceful transition of power is complete.
