WAHINGTON: Facebook Inc and Instagram will extend a ban on US President Donald Trump’s accounts “indefinitely” and for at least the next two weeks until the presidential transition is completed.
The decision by Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg comes after Facebook announced on Wednesday it would block Trump’s account for 24 hours as tech giants scrambled to crack down on his baseless claims about the US presidential election and hundreds of Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol.
“We believe the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great,” Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post on Thursday.
“His decision to use his platform to condone rather than condemn the actions of his supporters at the Capitol building has rightly disturbed people in the US and around the world,” said Zuckerberg in his post.
Twitter and Snapchat also temporarily locked Trump’s accounts on Wednesday. Civil rights groups including the Anti-Defamation League and Color of Change have called for social media companies to suspend Trump’s accounts permanently.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Twitter hid and mandated the removal of three of Trump’s tweets as a result of the unprecedented and ongoing violent situation in Washington.
Four people died on Capitol grounds in the chaos, including a woman who was shot and killed inside the building. The president and his allies for months have amplified unsubstantiated claims of election fraud.
