The United States president has been banned from Facebook and Instagram after he used these platforms to "incite violent insurrection against a democratically elected government".
Mark Zuckerburg, founder of Facebook, posted an update at around midnight, January 8 (Singapore time) announcing that the company had allowed President Donald Trump to use Facebook over the last several years even though some of his posts violated the platform's policies.
In the past, the platform went as far as removing Trump's posts, but never banning him outright.
Zuckerburg wrote:
"We did this because we believe that the public has a right to the broadest possible access to political speech, even controversial speech."
However, the situation now is "fundamentally different" he added.
Zuckerburg also said that Trump's ban will last "indefinitely and for at least the next two weeks until the peaceful transition of power is complete".
He added:
"We believe the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great."
You can read Zuckerburg's post below:
Background
Earlier on January 7 (Singapore time), Trump's supporters stormed the Capitol in Washington DC protesting the transition of power to Trump's elected successor, Joe Biden.
The protesters broke past multiple layers of security, forcing Capitol policemen to draw their guns and open fire.
There were multiple deaths.
Two pipe bombs were also recovered from the Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee offices.
First suspended temporarily on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
The events, believed to have been spurred on by Trump, first at a Washington DC rally, and later via a YouTube video, and several tweets, led to the temporary suspension of the president's social media accounts.
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