Zuckerberg bans Trump from Facebook and Instagram till the end of his tenure

The President of the United States, Donald Trump has been banned from Facebook and Instagram till the end of his tenure on January 20, 2021.

Facebook Co-founder, Mark Zuckerberg announced this in a post on Facebook on Thursday, January 7, 2021, while reacting to the violence perpetrated by Trump’s supporters at the Capitol on Wednesday, January 6, 2021.

Trump’s supporters had stormed the Capitol to stop the US Congress from certifying the election which Joe Biden won.

Zuckerberg said Trump had been allowed to use the Facebook and Instagram platform to say all sorts but had to be stopped now since it became clear that he was instigating violence.

The statement reads in part; “Following the certification of the election results by Congress, the priority for the whole country must now be to ensure that the remaining 13 days and the days after inauguration pass peacefully and in accordance with established democratic norms.

“Over the last several years, we have allowed President Trump to use our platform consistent with our own rules, at times removing content or labelling his posts when they violate our policies. We did this because we believe that the public has a right to the broadest possible access to political speech, even controversial speech. But the current context is now fundamentally different, involving the use of our platform to incite violent insurrection against a democratically elected government.

“We believe the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great. 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.”

Four people were left dead including a woman who was shot in the chest after Trump’s supporters invaded the Capitol to overturn Biden’s election victory.