Facebook announced Friday its suspension of Donald Trump’s account from the platform will hold for two years from the initial suspension on Jan. 7.
The social media giant said that it may allow former President Donald Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts to be reinstated in January 2023. But Trump’s account will not automatically be reinstated after the 2-year period is over. Rather, Facebook said, it will “look to experts to assess whether the risk to public safety has receded.”
“We will evaluate external factors, including instances of violence, restrictions on peaceful assembly and other markers of civil unrest,” the company said in a blog post. “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 re-evaluate until that risk has receded.”
If Trump is allowed back on the service, there will be a strict set of rapidly escalating sanctions that will be triggered if Trump further violates the company’s content moderation rules, Facebook said.
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This two-year suspension will prevent Trump from using Facebook or Instagram to incite violence from his followers until after the 2022 U.S. mid-term elections.
“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,” Nick Clegg, vice president of global affairs for Facebook, said in a statement published Friday.
