Social media giant Facebook bans Donald Trump for 2 years

The social media giant says the former US president violated its rules by praising people engaged in violence at the US Capitol building in January.

Facebook on Friday suspended former US President Donald Trump from its platforms for an initial period of two years.

The social media network said Trump stoked violence at the US Capitol on January 6, when Congress was giving final confirmation of the Electoral College votes in the 2020 US presidential election.

The insurrection left five people dead. Trump left the White House two weeks later as Joe Biden took over the presidency.

What did Facebook say about banning Trump?

Facebook's head of global affairs, Nick Clegg, said a review had concluded that Trump's actions "constituted a severe violation of our rules."

"At the end of this period, we 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," Clegg wrote in a blog post.

Facebook also plans to end a policy, which was supported by CEO Mark Zuckerberg, that exempted politicians from rules that banned hate speech and abuse.

The announcements are in response to recommendations from the company's quasi-independent oversight board. The panel upheld a decision made by Facebook last month to keep the former president indefinitely suspended, but said the suspension could not last "indefinitely" and had six months to decide what to do with Trump's accounts.

The board referred to two Facebook posts made by Trump during the insurrection. In the first post, he told rioters, "we love you. You're very special."

In the second post, he called the rioters "great patriots" and they would "remember this day forever."

The board said those posts violated Facebook's rules against praising or supporting people engaged in violence.

Trump was impeached a second time due to the January 6 violence. He was acquitted by the Senate.

How did Trump respond?

Trump called Facebook's decision an "insult" in a press release.

"They shouldn't be allowed to get away with this censoring and silencing, and ultimately we will win. Our Country can't take this abuse anymore!" he said.

The suspension will last until January 7, 2023, two years after it was initiated. If the suspension is lifted, he will face strict sanctions which could lead to his permanent removal from the platform.

Trump has been permanently banned from Twitter, another social network platform, since January 8.