Former US President, Donald Trump, will not be able to return to activity on Facebook and Instagram until 2023.
Facebook announced that Trump’s accounts will remain suspended for two years and that they will only be reinstated after the suspension period if “conditions permit.”
The announcement comes after the independent Facebook Oversight Board upheld the company’s suspension last month
after Trump praised rioters who engaged in violence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 2021.
After Board had upheld the decision, it required Facebook to review its decision and policies within six months – this announcement is the review.
Already Mr. Trump has been permanently banned on Twitter, which was his favorite outreach platform as President, for the same reason – In some ways, Donald John Trump made history as the tweeting President of America.
“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,” explains Nick Clegg, Facebook’s Vice President of global affairs.
Once the two-year period is up, in January 2023, “we will look to experts to assess whether the risk to public safety has receded” in deciding whether to reinstate Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts, Clegg continued. “If we determine that there is still a serious risk to public safety, we will extend the restriction for a set period of time and continue to reevaluate until that risk has receded,” the exec wrote.