Facebook suspends Donald Trump until January 2023

Trump’s actions on Facebook during the US Capitol riot were a ‘severe violation of our rules’, the company says. “Given the gravity of the circumstances that led to Mr. Trump’s suspension, we believe his actions constituted a severe violation of our rules which merit the highest penalty available under the new enforcement protocols,” Facebook Vice President of Global Affairs Nick Clegg said in a statement. “We are suspending his accounts for two years, effective from the date of the initial suspension on January 7 this year.” The company’s announcement comes after an oversight board put together by Facebook criticised its initial indefinite suspension of Trump following the former president’s praise of the US Capitol rioters on January 6. Clegg said on Friday, “In establishing the two year sanction for severe violations, we considered the need for it to be long enough to allow a safe period of time after the acts of incitement, to be significant enough to be a deterrent to Mr. Trump and others from committing such severe violations in future, and to be proportionate to the gravity of the violation itself.” When Trump’s suspension is eventually lifted, Clegg added, “there will be a strict set of rapidly escalating sanctions that will be triggered if Mr. Trump commits further violations in future, up to and including permanent removal of his pages and accounts”. Our Country can’t take this abuse anymore!” Clegg on Friday, anticipating a firestorm from the former president and conservatives, said, “We know that any penalty we apply — or choose not to apply — will be controversial.” “There are many people who believe it was not appropriate for a private company like Facebook to suspend an outgoing President from its platform, and many others who believe Mr. Trump should have immediately been banned for life,” Clegg continued.