[ad_1]
Facebook has banned President Donald Trump from accessing the platform “indefinitely” due to his efforts to incite violence on the US Capitol, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said Thursday.
Zuckerberg said the one-day ban on Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts was extended due to “Trump’s use of our platform to incite a violent insurrection against a democratically elected government.”
The Facebook CEO added: “The shocking events of the past 24 hours clearly demonstrate that President Donald Trump intends to use his remaining time in office to undermine the peaceful and legal transition of power to his elected successor, Joe Biden. “
The announcement came a day after the outgoing American leader was banned from all major social media platforms for his false claims about the legitimacy of his loss to Biden and for inciting the angry crowd that stormed the US Capitol. U.S.
“We believe that the risks of allowing the president to continue using our service during this period are simply too great,” Zuckerberg wrote on his Facebook page.
“Therefore, we are extending the block that we have placed on their Facebook and Instagram accounts indefinitely and for at least the next two weeks until the peaceful transition of power is completed.”
Trump’s favorite megaphone Twitter blocked him for 12 hours after forcing him to delete tweets that broke the rules.
Trump’s posts were violations of the platform’s rules on civic integrity and any future violations “will result in permanent suspension of the @realDonaldTrump account,” according to Twitter.
Twitter said on Thursday that while the suspension period had ended, it was “continuing to assess the situation in real time, including examining activity on the ground and statements made on Twitter” to determine whether further enforcement actions were warranted.
“Now is the time for Silicon Valley companies to stop allowing this monstrous behavior and go beyond what they have already done by permanently banning this man from their platforms,” former first lady Michelle Obama said in a released statement. On twitter.
He called on social media platforms to implement “policies to prevent the nation’s leaders from using their technology to fuel the insurrection.”
An activist group that formed a mock Facebook oversight board lamented that an insurrection was required for the social network to finally ban Trump.
“This week’s attempted coup shows us that Facebook is unfit for law enforcement,” said the group, which calls itself The Real Facebook Oversight Board, although it has no connection to the platform.
“The site remains a breeding ground for violent extremism and misinformation, its algorithm leading people to hatred.”
Snapchat suspension
Snapchat confirmed Thursday that it blocked Trump from the photo-sharing platform amid concerns about his dangerous rhetoric.
The social media announcements came after Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol on Wednesday in an unprecedented attack that caused police to shoot and kill a woman, disrupting the normally ceremonial procedure to certify victory. Biden’s election.
Trump, who had addressed the mob and urged them to march to the Capitol, later posted a video on social media in which he repeated the false claim of voter fraud, even telling the mob “we love you.”
YouTube removed the video in accordance with its policy of banning claims that challenge the election results.
US Senator Mark Warner, a Democrat representing Virginia, said that Facebook, Twitter and YouTube’s moves to address Trump’s “sustained misuse of their platforms to sow discord and violence” had come too late.
“These platforms have served as the central organizational infrastructure for far-right violent groups and militia movements for several years,” said the senator, who is the incoming chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
Critics of the online platforms argued that they moved too slowly as Wednesday’s violence organized on social media, directing their ire at Zuckerberg and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey.
“Your hands are stained with blood, @jack and Zuck,” tweeted Chris Sacca, one of Facebook’s early investors who has become one of its harshest critics.
“For four years you have rationalized this terror. Inciting violent betrayal is not an exercise in freedom of expression. If you work in these companies, it is also up to you.”
What will be the most exciting tech launch of 2021? We talked about this on Orbital, our weekly tech podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.
