Facebook has removed a video of Donald Trump being interviewed after they said it contravened their ban on him appearing on their platform. Donald Trump was banned from many social-media platforms including, Facebook and Twitter, after the Capitol riots in which his supporters stormed the Capitol building, resulting in several deaths. The ban was put in place as it said that the former President promoted fake news and spread information that could lead to violence.
The video that was removed from Facebook featured Trump and was posted by his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, who is married to his son Eric Trump.
The interview was also removed from Instagram, owned by Facebook. In an email that was sent to Lara from Instagram, it warns her against posting anything in relation to the President. It reads:
"Content posted on Facebook and Instagram in the voice of President Trump is not currently allowed on our platform (including new posts with President Trump speaking) and will be removed if posted, resulting in additional limitations on accounts that posted it."
Facebook later confirmed that the email was genuine.
A second email was soon sent, saying:
"In line with the block we placed on Donald Trump's Facebook and Instagram accounts, further content posted in the voice of Donald Trump will be removed and result in additional limitations on the accounts."
Lara posted the emails to her Instagram account saying that it violated the rules of free speech that govern the United States.
Donald Trump widely used social-media, and Twitter in particular, both prior to and during his presidency. Posts that included inflammatory attacks on individuals who he believed had wronged him as well as news stories from far-right channels, were late shown to be false or highly fabricated.
Trump was later impeached, for the second time, following the Capitol building riots and after he had been voted out of office. He however survived the impeachment, which if he had lost, would have barred him from ever standing for office again. His previous impeachment was in relation to the accusation that he attempted to gain information against Joe Biden's son from Ukraine in exchange for an arms deal.
[h/t: NBC news]
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