Trump Indefinitely Blocked From Facebook and Instagram After Capitol Riot

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday wrote on his Facebook page confirming that President Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts will be blocked “indefinitely,” and for at least the next two weeks before Inauguration Day, as a consequence of his support for the rioters who stormed the US Capitol on Wednesday.

RELATED READING: TWITTER, FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM LOCK TRUMP OUT OF HIS ACCOUNT; BLOCK #STORMTHECAPITOL HASHTAG COMMENTS

Social media platforms Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, had initially suspended the US President Donald Trump out of his accounts for just 24 hours due to his incendiary comments concerning the US Capitol storming by supporting rioters to block Biden’s win.

In a post to Facebook on Thursday Facebook’s CEO Zuckerberg wrote that the suspension will last much longer.

“The shocking events of the last 24 hours clearly demonstrate that President Donald Trump intends to use his remaining time in office to undermine the peaceful and lawful transition of power to his elected successor, Joe Biden.”

“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.”

Twitter hasn’t yet commented on whether it would also move to block Trump from posting to his account. But e-commerce platform Shopify on Thursday also closed websites associated with Trump that it said violated internal policies. The Trump Organization’s official retail site, Trumpstore.com was among the sites taken offline.

Shopify in a statement said:

“Shopify does not tolerate actions that incite violence. Based on recent events, we have determined that the actions by President Donald J. Trump violate our Acceptable Use Policy, which prohibits promotion or support of organizations, platforms or people that threaten or condone violence to further a cause. As a result, we have terminated stores affiliated with President Trump.”

Here’s the full post from Zuckerberg, which was published to his personal Facebook account:

Comedian Sacha Baron Cohen added his voice to the demands, tweeting: “Facebook and Twitter have spread Trump’s lies and hate and helped radicalize the extremists who attacked the Capitol. Suspending Trump for a few hours is NOT ENOUGH!” He added the hashtag #BanTrumpSaveDemocracy.