Zuckerberg: Trump will be blocked from Facebook and Instagram until inauguration day

Social media blocked the president’s accounts after the riots in Washington

President Donald Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts will be blocked until at least inauguration day, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Thursday.

“We believe that allowing the president to use our services during this period is too risky,” Zuckerberg wrote on his page. – “Therefore, we are extending the blocking of his Facebook and Instagram accounts indefinitely – for at least the next two weeks until the peaceful transition of power is complete.”

Two social media outlets blocked Trump’s accounts Wednesday in response to his speech to supporters who then invaded the Capitol building. They also deleted several of the president’s posts, including a video in which he expressed his admiration for the rioters.

The YouTube platform also removed the video for violating its content policy.

Zuckerberg said Trump’s treatment of rioters “rightly disturbed people in the U.S. and around the world.”

“In previous years, we allowed President Trump to use our platform in accordance with our rules, sometimes removing content or flagging his posts if they violated our policy,” he wrote. – We did this because we believe the public has a right to the widest possible access to political speech, even controversial speech. But the current context is fundamentally different: Our platform is being used to incite sedition against a democratically elected government.”

“Twitter on Wednesday restricted access to Trump’s account, demanding that he delete several posts. The company also threatened to disconnect him from the platform entirely, though it had previously rejected calls to do so repeatedly. “We believe the risk of harm has become higher and more serious,” a spokesman for the social network explained Wednesday.