The decision effectively locks off the former president’s megaphone until after the coming midterm elections. The suspension was imposed after the January Capitol violence.
In January 2023, Donald Trump will be eligible for reinstatement on Facebook.
Facebook announced on Friday that former President Donald J. Trump would be suspended from the service for at least two years, simply eliminating him from mainstream social media until the midterm elections of 2022, as the company also announced the end of a policy that treated posts from politicians in a different manner than those from other users.
Donald Trump would be entitled to reinstatement in January 2023, before the next presidential campaign, according to the social network. Facebook said it would next consult experts to determine if the danger to public safety has diminished.” Mr. Trump was suspended from the site after making statements on social media that galvanised his followers, who stormed the United States Capitol on Jan. 6, but Facebook provided no specific schedule for when or if the ban would end.
Nick Clegg, Facebook’s VP for global affairs, has said that given the gravity of the circumstances surrounding Mr. Trump’s suspension, they believe his actions constituted a flagrant violation of Facebook’s rules, deserving of the maximum penalty permitted under the new enforcement protocols.
If Donald Trump were reinstated, he would face a series of sanctions, including the permanent suspension of his account, Facebook said.
Additionally, Facebook announced the removal of a provision that allowed politicians’ postings to remain visible by default even if their statements violated the company’s standards.
For years, Facebook and other social media corporations have said that they will refrain from interfering with political discourse for the public good. Companies did not rein in Mr. Trump’s aggressive rhetoric throughout his administration, as he insulted adversaries and propagated disinformation. They shifted their position in response to Mr. Trump’s social media activity on the day of the Capitol assault.
Facebook’s reassessment of how political speech should be treated has ramifications not only for American politics but also for international leaders such as Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who have been active on social media.
In 2015, Pm Narendra Modi of India and Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, met. Facebook’s decision will also have ramifications for world leaders who have used the website.
