Even though Donald Trump has returned to Twitter after a brief 12 hours suspension over inciting tweets, his Facebook and Instagram accounts will continue to remain blocked. In a post penned down by Mark Zuckerberg late yesterday, he has announced that the social media behemoth is extending bans on Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts ‘indefinitely’ and at least for the next two weeks. The next two weeks are crucial since that is all the time that Trump has left in the office, which will then be overtaken by President-elect Joe Biden.
In a post that was showed rare rebuttal for Donald Trump, Zuckerberg says, “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”. He adds, “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.”
Earlier yesterday, all major social media networks across the globe led by Twitter and Facebook, had either suspended or banned Trump from using them. The bans kicked in after a violent mob of pro-Trump protestors stormed in the US Capitol and created ruckus in what is usually referred to as the ‘temple of democracy’. Such violent takeover, which also included some deaths and protestors bashing into lawmakers’ offices, only last happened in 1814, when the British burned the Capitol down.
Donald Trump though, was once again on the wrong end of things, having continuously incited his supporters to continue to do what they are doing. It was only after the clashes turned violent and his own fellow Republicans thrashed his comments left and right, that Trump toned down his rhetoric.
It is unclear as to how long Facebook intends to keep Trump off its platforms. But his ban will certainly bring in much needed relief to a country that has literally become a mockery of its own principles and ideology.
