Facebook Blocks Trump’s Accounts Until Inauguration, If Not Longer (Updated: Twitter, Too) →

Mark Zuckerberg:

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.

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. We removed these statements yesterday because we judged that their effect — and likely their intent — would be to provoke further violence.
Following the certification of the election results by Congress, the priority for the whole country must now be to ensure that the remaining 13 days and the days after inauguration pass peacefully and in accordance with established democratic norms.

[…]

We believe the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great. 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.

A big move from the world’s largest social media company, but it’s pathetic that it took the events of January 6 to make it happen. Facebook and others have seen incredible user engagement and raked in political ad money since Trump first announced he was going to run in June 2015.

2021-01-08 Update: Twitter just permanently suspended the @realDonaldTrump account.**