President Donald Trump has had his account reinstated on Twitter but has now received an indefinite ban on his Facebook account. This means that he will no longer be able to reach his near 33 million followers on Facebook.
The move to ban Trump from Facebook comes after the invasion of the capitol building by far-right supporters, which resulted in the deaths of 5 people, including a police officer who was struck on the head by a rioter.
In a statement, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg claimed that the President was seeking to undermine democracy and the rule of law and disrupt president-elect Biden's entry to office. The Facebook founder said:
"The shocking events of the last 24 hours clearly 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… 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.
He added:
But the current context is now fundamentally different, involving 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."
The shocking events of the last 24 hours clearly demonstrate that President Donald Trump intends to use his remaining...
Posted by Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday, 7 January 2021
Zuckerberg also said that Trump had failed to condemn the riots. Since the statement was made, Trump has now said that those who broke the law will now be punished and that those arrested could face long jail terms. He said:
"Like all Americans, I am outraged by the violence, lawlessness and mayhem. I immediately deployed the National Guard and federal law enforcement to secure the building and expel the intruders… America is and must always be a nation of law and order. The demonstrators who infiltrated the Capitol have defiled the seat of American democracy. To those who engaged in the acts of violence and destruction, you do not represent our country and to those who broke the law, you will pay."
It is the first indication that even Trump thinks things have gone too far.
His apology was met with rage from far-right Trump supporters who see him now as giving in to the establishment. Trump had made and continues to make assertions that the November presidential election was rigged.
Posters on the website 4Chan stated:
"Trump is the biggest f- of our times. I seriously hope he f- dies."
And:
"You know what? F- it. F- Trump. F- America. F- the founders. This country is s-. Let Xi destroy us all. We deserve it."
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