Facebook announced Friday that former President Donald Trump's accounts will remain suspended for two years, through at least January 7, 2023. The decision follows the ruling by Facebook's Oversight Board last month to uphold Trump's suspension while at the same time calling it "not permissible for Facebook to keep a user off the platform for an undefined period, with no criteria for when or whether the account will be restored."
Trump was initially suspended in January due to his actions surrounding the Capitol riot, with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg citing his "use of our platform to incite violent insurrection against a democratically elected government" and saying that "the risks of allowing the president to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great." On Friday, Facebook added that it decided on its two-year suspension "given the gravity of the circumstances" and that "we believe [Trump's] actions constituted a severe violation of our rules which merit the highest penalty available under the new enforcement protocols."
At the end of the two year period, Facebook said it will "look to experts to assess whether the risk to public safety has receded" and that if Trump's suspension is then lifted, "there will be a strict set of rapidly escalating sanctions that will be triggered if Mr. Trump commits further violations in future, up to and including permanent removal of his pages and accounts." Read Facebook's full statement here.
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