Facebook Bans Donald Trump ‘Indefinitely’ After Capitol Killings

US President Donald Trump continues to face international condemnation for his role in the storming of the US Capitol building by a mob of his supporters.

Three people died from medical issues, one woman was shot dead, and now a police officer has died of his injuries sustained in the battle. Improvised explosive devices and firearms were also recovered.

The tech industry responded quickly, with Twitter and Facebook quickly banned him from his accounts.

Violent insurrection

Twitter banned him for 12 hours, while Facebook banned him on the platform and Instagram for 24 hours.

YouTube also deleted a Trump video message, and Snapchat stopped Trump from creating new posts.

Trump’s Twitter account has been now unlocked, and the US President returned to the platform with a video acknowledging that Joe Biden would be the next US president.

But Trump remains on a tight leash on Twitter, as the platform has warned “future violations of the Twitter Rules, including our Civic Integrity or Violent Threats policies, will result in permanent suspension of the @realDonaldTrump account.”

Trump rarely adheres to these guidelines.

But with mounting calls for the immediate removal from office, Mark Zuckerberg has decided to go stage further and has banned Donald Trump ‘indefinitely’ from his platforms.

In a post on Facebook, Zuckerberg said the risk of allowing the President to continue to use its service are simply too great.

“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,” wrote Zuckerberg.

Indefinite ban

“His decision to use his platform to condone rather than condemn the actions of his supporters at the Capitol building has rightly disturbed people in the US and around the world,” wrote Zuckerberg. “We removed these statements yesterday because we judged that their effect – and likely their intent – would be to provoke further violence.”

“Following the certification of the election results by Congress, the priority for the whole country must now be to ensure that the remaining 13 days and the days after inauguration pass peacefully and in accordance with established democratic norms,” he added.

“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,” Zuckerberg wrote. “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.”

“We believe the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great,” concluded Zickerberg. “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.”