Facebook suspends Trump accounts for two years.

 

Facebook Inc suspended the Facebook and Instagram accounts of former US President Donald Trump for two years. He was suspended indefinitely on both sites in January after posts, he made about the riots in the US Capitol, but last month Facebook's Oversight Board criticized the open sanction.

Facebook said Trump's actions were "a serious violation of our rules."

Trump called the move "an insult" to the millions who voted for him in last year's presidential election. Facebook's move comes at a time when the social media giant is also ending a policy that shields politicians from some content moderation rules. It said it would no longer give politicians immunity from misleading or abusive content based on whether their comments were worth publishing. Trump's ban went into effect from the initial suspension date on January 7, Facebook vice president of global affairs Nick Clegg said in a post. "If we determine that there is still a serious risk to public safety, we will extend the restrictions for a period of time and continue to reassess until the risk is reduced." Upon his return, Trump will be subject to "a rapidly increasing set of sanctions" for each violation, Clegg's statement said.

How did Mr. Trump do?

In a statement issued by his Save America political action committee, Trump said: "Facebook's decision is an insult to the record 75 million people, plus many others, who voted for us ..." "They must not be allowed to escape this censorship and silencing, and in the end, we will win. Our country cannot take this abuse anymore!" In a second statement about the two-year ban, Trump attacked the founder of Facebook.

Facebook's initiative allows Trump to return to the platform before the 2024 presidential election. He is also preparing to host the large-scale face-to-face demonstrations that have become a hallmark of his campaign and presidency. One of the first is planned for Dallas, Texas, in early July, according to local media.

Earlier this week, it was discovered that the communication platform created by Mr. Trump after his social media ban, From the Desk of Donald J. Trump, was permanently shut down.

In addition to Facebook, which has more than two billion monthly users, Trump was also kicked out of Twitter, YouTube, Snapchat, Twitch, and other social media platforms during the January riots.

Last month, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Trump's Republican ally, h signed the first law in the United States to punish tech companies for unplugging politicians.

 

Trump's Facebook dilemma was complex, interchangeable, and inevitably upsetting for millions. The point is that, regardless of his decision, he had to be polarized.

But to understand: today Facebook, the largest social network in the world, has prohibited access to its megaphone to a person for whom 74 million people voted. They not only knew or approved of it; voted for him as President of The United States. This is a great decision.

What is the new Facebook policy?

Facebook says that public figures who violate its rules by inciting riots or violence will be suspended for a month or, in more serious cases, up to two years.

It comes as part of an effort to undo an earlier policy of allowing remarkable political speech despite the potential to cause harm.

Posts that are deemed to be exception-worthy, despite possible violations, may still be allowed but will receive a warning label from Facebook. The company says it will no longer treat "content posted by politicians differently."

"Instead, let's just apply our journalistic value balance test in the same way to all content, measuring whether the public interest value of the content outweighs the potential risk of harm by omitting it." The company's Board of Trustees ruled that Trump's initial ban was appropriate, but there was no reason for the ban to last indefinitely.

The independent board, funded by Facebook, has 20 members who can make binding decisions about content. Its members include lawyers, journalists, freedom of expression experts, and the former prime minister of Denmark.

The announcement came on the same day that regulators in Europe and the UK launched official antitrust investigations into whether Facebook had misappropriated customer data.