Mark Zuckerberg, the Chief Executive Officer of Facebook, has communicated through his social media platform that Donald Trump will be prevented from utilizing both Facebook and Instagram “for a minimum of the next two weeks, extending until the completion of the peaceful transfer of power.” The company initially suspended his accounts on Wednesday in response to posts that encouraged his supporters to engage in violent acts; however, Zuckerberg now states that this suspension will be prolonged “indefinitely,” lasting at least until the inauguration of President Biden.

Yesterday, both Facebook and Instagram took down Trump’s video message, wherein the president instructed those who had stormed the Capitol building in Washington D.C. to return home, but simultaneously expressed affection for the individuals involved in the violent disruption. This action was followed by a 24-hour restriction on his accounts, preventing him from posting on Facebook and Instagram during that timeframe.

Zuckerberg recognizes that Trump’s content has previously been flagged or removed when it violated established policies, but notes that he was previously permitted to “use our platform in accordance with our established guidelines.” He explains that this situation has changed due to “the utilization of our platform to encourage violent rebellion against a legitimately elected government.”

The language employed in this announcement is carefully considered and strategically crafted for public relations purposes. Zuckerberg is precise in stating that past usage has aligned with the platform’s existing rules, rather than representing an exception to them, and he avoids directly attributing the incitement of violent insurrection to Trump within the specific sentence addressing that issue. Nevertheless, this represents the most significant measure taken by the platform to date to restrict Trump’s access.

Facebook’s decision to suspend the president’s account, even on a temporary basis, signifies a substantial departure from its long-held approach regarding global leaders. It is noteworthy that this leader’s term in office is nearing its end. Following Trump’s departure on January 20th, Facebook will be engaging with President-elect Joe Biden, as well as a Congress and administration that are keenly interested in implementing regulations governing its operations.

Historically, Facebook has demonstrated considerable leniency towards Trump’s controversial conduct on the platform, most notably when it took no action regarding his account after he advocated for forceful responses to racial justice demonstrators. Trump’s statement, “when the looting starts, the shooting starts,” mirrored a similar expression made by a prejudiced Miami police chief during the 1960s.

This situation alone sparked considerable internal debate within Facebook, as employees voiced their opposition to the company’s stance on Trump. Yesterday, BuzzFeed News reported that Facebook curtailed internal discussions concerning the Trump supporters who instigated the insurrection at the Capitol, effectively halting comment threads that called for Trump’s removal from the platform.

Throughout his presidency, Facebook actively sought to facilitate Trump’s use of the platform. In 2019, amidst mounting pressure to adopt a more principled position, Mark Zuckerberg delivered a resolute speech at Georgetown University, reaffirming the belief that Facebook bore no responsibility for removing potentially harmful political content.

“We can either champion free expression… or determine that the cost is simply too high,” Zuckerberg stated. “We must continue to champion free expression.”

The complete statement from Zuckerberg is as follows:

And a post from Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram:

In the meantime, Twitter announced on Thursday that Trump had fulfilled its requirement to delete three problematic tweets before access to his locked account on that platform was restored—meaning Trump will regain access to his account 12 hours after the deletions, or later on Thursday.

This is a developing story…