'Insult to 75 million voters': Donald Trump banned for two years from Facebook
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Trump, as expected, has not taken the decision well and has called it an 'insult' to his 75 million voters
A little after the rumours of the former reality TV star and the 45th US President, Donald Trump, coming back on Facebook were dismissed, the social media platform has decided to continue the ban on the Republican leader for the next two years, at least.
The former president was banned from Facebook and other social media platforms such as Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat after he was accused of motivating his supporters to start a riot at the US Capitol building.
After losing the US election 2020 to Joe Biden, Trump asked his supporters to charge to the Capitol building and take back what was theirs. He had also used his social media accounts, especially on Twitter and Facebook, to incite violence on the country through his supporters.
Considering the seriousness and the harm done to the country and people, Facebook decided to ban the former president’s account for at least the next two years.
"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," Facebook vice president of global affairs Nick Clegg said in a post.
Trump, as expected, has not taken the decision well and has called it an 'insult' to his 75 million voters.
"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," Trump said in a statement. "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!"
Facebook has also made it clear that two years is the suspension limit for now, but the authorities will re-evaluate the risk Trump poses and accordingly decided to lift or extend the ban after two years.
"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," Clegg said.
Even if his ban is lifted by Facebook, the former president will have to face strict sanctions and his account will be closely monitored for any kind of violation. If he ends up posting something that violates the platform’s rules again, Trump’s account will be permanently suspended.
"We know today's decision will be criticized by many people on opposing sides of the political divide," Clegg said. "But, our job is to make a decision in as proportionate, fair and transparent a way as possible, in keeping with the instruction given to us by the Oversight Board."
This has come almost a day after Trump’s personal blog page "From the Desk of Donald J. Trump" was shut down within a month of its launch.