Facebook Suspends Trump For 2 Years In Response To Oversight Board Ruling

Facebook suspended former President Donald Trump from its site for two years in response to its independent oversight board ruling, the company announced Friday. 

Last month, the oversight board upheld Facebook’s suspension of the former president's Facebook and Instagram accounts following his praise for the rioters committing violence during the Capitol riot on Jan. 6. 

"We are today announcing new enforcement protocols to be applied in exceptional cases such as this, and we are confirming the time-bound penalty consistent with those protocols which we are applying to Mr. Trump’s accounts," Facebook wrote Friday. 

"Given the gravity of the circumstances that led to Mr. Trump’s suspension, we believe his actions constituted a severe violation of our rules which merit the highest penalty available under the new enforcement protocols. We are suspending his accounts for two years, effective from the date of the initial suspension on January 7 this year," the company wrote.

At the end of the suspension period, Facebook said it 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. If we determine that there is still a serious risk to public safety, we will extend the restriction for a set period of time and continue to re-evaluate until that risk has receded," the social media company wrote.

Source: NPR
Image Source: Getty Images