President Donald Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts will be locked for the remainder of his term in office and perhaps “indefinitely,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a blog post on Thursday.
“We believe the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great,” Zuckerberg wrote in the post. “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.”
Zuckerberg said Facebook had determined that Trump’s recent posts were “likely” intended to escalate the violence rather than the opposite. Trump has shown he “intends to use his remaining time in office to undermine the peaceful and lawful transition of power to his elected successor, Joe Biden,” Zuckerberg wrote.
Facebook and Twitter took the extraordinary step on Wednesday of temporarily locking President Donald Trump’s account on their platforms after his supporters stormed the Capitol building to protest the election.
If the restrictions hold, Facebook could be the first major platform to remove Trump permanently.
