The Facebook company said it would suspend former President Donald Trump’s account for two years after findings that he instigated violence before the Jan. 6 violent attack.
“At the end of this period, we will ask the experts to assess whether the risk to public safety has decreased. “We will assess external factors, including cases of violence, restrictions on peaceful assembly and other signs of civil unrest.” said Friday through a post Nick Clegg, the company’s vice president for global affairs.
In a press release, former President Trump called the decision “an insult.”
“They should not be allowed to escape unpunished by this censorship and silence. Ultimately we will win. “Our country can no longer tolerate this abuse!” stated in the press release.
Blocking Mr. Trump’s Facebook account means others can read and comment on past posts made there, but Mr. Trump and other administrators of this account are unable to post new material. Twitter, on the other hand, has permanently barred Mr. Trump from accessing its services and there is no trace of his account on the company platform.
Facebook said it would increase penalties for public figures during times of civil unrest and violence. In a color-coded chart in its post on Friday, the company said those who violate its policies during this time may be restricted from posting for a period of one month (yellow) to two years (red). Future violations, Facebook said, would be met with “higher penalties, up to permanent suspensions.”
Facebook also plans to end a controversial policy backed by its President Mark Zuckerberg that automatically excludes politicians from rules banning hate speech and abuse. The company has said it has never implemented this policy towards Mr. Trump.
The social media giant said on Friday that he plans to implement this exception, however, for those posts that “make news” are in the public interest even if he violates the rules of Facebook. But the company said it would make public the cases in which it would apply the exemption on a post.