After Capitol violence, Facebook and Instagram suspend Trump's accounts indefinitely
Outgoing United States President Donald Trump has been slapped with an indefinite ban by Facebook and Instagram. He was initially barred from posting anything on these platforms for 24 hours, in wake of the deadly violence at the Capitol. On Thursday (local time), Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg extended the ban at least until the January 20 inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden.
Zuckerberg categorically stated that allowing Trump to access his account poses a significant risk to the peaceful transition of power. "We believe the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great," the CEO wrote on his Facebook page. Earlier, in an internal memo to employees, Zuckerberg said he was "saddened" by the violence.
"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," the post read.
Following the riots that shook the US Capitol, Trump had posted a video in which he had allegedly praised his supporters. The video was removed from various platforms including YouTube. Jack Dorsey's Twitter even warned of a permanent ban if Trump were to continue flouting its policies. Snapchat confirmed that it has locked Trump out over his "dangerous rhetoric."
Meanwhile, YouTube is planning to clamp down on channels spreading misinformation about the 2020 elections, including Trump's channel. It had issued a new policy late last year to curtail misinformation about the US Presidential election. Those peddling misinformation would now get a strike, prohibiting them from uploading content. Evidently, Trump has taken the lead as far as misinformation is concerned by constantly claiming that he won the elections.
Separately, Shopify has taken down two of Trump's stores selling Make America Great Again merchandise on the platform. TrumpStore.com as well as Shop.DonaldJTrump.com were kicked off. A Shopify spokesperson confirmed that the ban was in response to Trump violating the company policy which "prohibits promotion or support of organizations, platforms or people that threaten or condone violence." "Shopify does not tolerate actions that incite violence," the official told.
