Facebook bans Trump from its platform for 2 years
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Alaina
- . June 6, 2021
- . Update: June 9, 2021 6:48 pm
Facebook Inc has banned former US President Donald Trump from its platforms, Instagram and Facebook, for a period of two years.
Facebook’s move is likely to inflame tensions of the company with allies of the former US president who allege that the company of censors conservative views. Trump was barred from both sites in January in view of the posts he did on the US Capitol riots. Last month, Facebook’s Oversight Board denounced the open-ended penalty.
The social media company, after two years, will reevaluate the risk to public safety if it allows Trump back onto its services. Trump, if allowed, will return around the US midterm elections.
While upholding Facebook’s decision to ban Trump’s account, the board rebuked the company for laying an “indefinite” suspension that was outside the company’s policies. The board referred back to Facebook, calling it a “standardless” and “vague” penalty. Facebook announced that it will ponder upon external factors, including restrictions on peaceful assembly, instances of violence, and other markers of civil unrest.
The content-sharing platform said Mr. Trump’s actions were a “severe violation” of its rules. Mr. Trump replied back by saying that Facebook’s move was “an insult” to his millions of voters.
The social media giant is also putting an end to its policy of shielding politicians from a few of the content moderation rules. It said that politicians would no longer have immunity for being deceptive or sharing abusive content.
Jen Psaki, The White House press secretary, said Trump’s social media use had revealed “a lot” about him during his term, adding: “It feels unlikely that the zebra is to change his stripes in the coming two years.”
The effectiveness of deplatforming has raged America’s conservatives, many of them argue “Silicon Valley elites” are engaging in an unprecedented and unfair restriction of free speech.
