Facebook will “indefinitely” block President Donald Trump from its platforms, saying his posts pose an unacceptable risk in the wake of a harrowing attack by his supporters on the US Capitol. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the unprecedented move on Thursday, a day after rioters stormed the legislative heart of America’s democracy as Congress met inside to certify Joe Biden as the next president.
“We believe the risks of allowing the president to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great,” Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post. “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.”
Biden’s inauguration will take place on Jan. 20.
The ban, which followed an earlier 24-hour block, represents Facebook’s strongest action against Trump’s use of social media to spread misinformation, stir grievances and incite violence. The social media giant, which owns photo-sharing app Instagram, has had a mostly hands-off approach to political speech, exempting politicians from fact-checking. Instead, Facebook allowed some of Trump’s controversial posts to remain visible or added labels to his baseless claims of election fraud.
“We did this because we believe that the public has a right to the broadest possible access to political speech, even controversial speech,” Zuckerberg said. “The current context is now fundamentally different, involving use of our platform to incite violent insurrection against a democratically elected government.”…Read more>>
Source:-cnet