Facebook blocks Donald Trump till transition is complete

Donald Trump has been blocked on Facebook and Instagram for till after the time Joe Biden comes to power. Mark Zuckerberg releases statement saying the risk to let Trump continue using social media is too much.

Mark Zuckerberg's statement says - “We believe the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great.” (REUTERS)

Taking a commendable and brave step, Facebook has decided to block Donald Trump ‘indefinitely' or till after the transition is complete and Joe Biden comes to power in the US as president. 

Facebook had initially put in a 24-hour ban on the US president who is sitting through his last few days in office after his supporters attacked the US Capitol. 

This 24-hour ban has now been made into an indefinite one and will apply both to Instagram, and Facebook. 

Instagram head Adam Mosseri tweeted:

Given the exceptional circumstances, and the fact that the President has decided to condone rather than condemn yesterday's violence at the Capital, we are extending the block we have placed on his accounts indefinitely and for at least the next two weeks.

— Adam Mosseri 😷 (@mosseri) January 7, 2021

And Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg put out a statement on Facebook announcing the decision. 

We believe the risks of allowing President Trump to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great, so we are extending the block we have placed on his Facebook and Instagram accounts indefinitely and for at least the next two weeks. pic.twitter.com/JkyGOTYB1Z

— Facebook Newsroom (@fbnewsroom) January 7, 2021

Here's the full statement:

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.

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.

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.

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. 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.

Earlier in the day, Twitter also blocked Trump's account for 12 hours adding that future violations could result in permanent suspension.

Twitter removed three of Trump's tweets, including a short video in which he urged those supporters to “go home” while also repeating falsehoods about the integrity of the presidential election. 

Facebook had to remove the same video from its platform as well and Instagram had blocked Trump's account for 24 hours. 

We are locking President Trump's Instagram account for 24 hours as well. https://t.co/HpA79eSbMe

— Adam Mosseri 😷 (@mosseri) January 7, 2021

This is an emergency situation and we are taking appropriate emergency measures, including removing President Trump's video. We removed it because on balance we believe it contributes to rather than diminishes the risk of ongoing violence.

— Guy Rosen (@guyro) January 6, 2021