Donald Trump suspended from Facebook for two years

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Donald Trump will be able to return to social media on January 7 of 2023
AFP via Getty Images
Luke O'Reilly4 June 2021

Donald Trump has been suspended from Facebook and Instagram for two years.

The social media site announced on Friday that the former US President’s suspension will stand for a period of two years.

The suspension will backdate to when he was first banned from the platforms on January 7 of this year.

Mr Trump was suspended following the storming of the US Capitol by his supporters after Democrat Joe Biden won the presidential election.

Donald Trump was suspended following the storming of the US Capitol by his supporters
PA Archive

Mr Trump will be free to return to the platforms on January 7 of 2023.

In a blog post on Friday, Sir Nick Clegg, Facebook’s vice-president of global affairs and communications, said: “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.

“We are suspending his accounts for two years, effective from the date of the initial suspension on January 7 this year.”

Sir Nick said the decision to impose a two-year sanction had considered the need for it to be “significant enough to be a deterrent to Mr Trump and others from committing such severe violations in future”.

He added that the ban could be extended at the end of the two years if it was determined there was still a “serious risk to public safety”.

“When the suspension is eventually lifted, 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,” he said.

Videos shared across the 74-year-old’s social accounts called those who stormed the Capitol “patriots” and said: “We love you.”

The incident resulted in five people dying.

Facebook’s oversight board concluded that two posts by Mr Trump “severely violated” its Community Standards but said it was “not appropriate” for the social network to impose “the indeterminate and standardless penalty of indefinite suspension”.

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