The major move comes after violence erupted at the Capitol on Wednesday.
After a mob of pro-Trump supporters violently stormed the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., during a joint session of Congress, Facebook took the unprecedented step of indefinitely blocking the president’s account.
At least four people have died following the so-called insurrection that erupted at the Capitol on Wednesday. As the world watched the violence unfold in horror, President Donald Trump shared a video on his social media accounts telling the protesters “we love you” and “you’re very special” as he told them to go home.
The video was soon removed by Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. As pressure mounted, Facebook and Twitter took the extra step of temporarily suspending Trump’s accounts. On Thursday, Facebook went a step further and said it was indefinitely suspending Trump’s account.
“Over the last several years, we have allowed President Trump to use our platform consistent with our own rules, at times removing content or labeling 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 use of our platform to incite violent insurrection against a democratically elected government,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a post.
“We believe the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great,” he added. “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.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
