The period for Donald Trump’s ban on Facebook and on Instagram has been extended to 13 days, as communicated by the Founder and CEO at Facebook yesterday, Mark Zuckerberg.
While Facebook and Instagram initially banned Trump for 24 hours, that has now changed due to him using the platforms to “incite violent insurrection against a democratically elected government.”
Zuckerberg said the shocking events of the last 24 hours clearly demonstrate that Trump intends to use his remaining time in office to undermine the peaceful and lawful transition of power to his elected successor, Joe Biden.
“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. We removed these statements yesterday because we judged that their effect — and likely their intent — would be to provoke further violence,” said Zuckerberg.
“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.
Zuckerberg said that for several years, they allowed Trump to use their platform simply because the public had a right to the broadest possible access to political speech — even controversial speech. That notion has, however, changed.
“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,” added Zuckerberg.
Protesters, in support of outgoing President Trump, managed to get past police and storm the Capitol building in the US that held congress.
According to the Washington Post, the house was set to declare Biden as the next president of the US which Trump supporters were most certainly against.
Further reports indicated that a woman — a California native and Air Force veteran — was shot and killed during the violent outbreak. A further three people reportedly suffered medical emergencies and died.