WASHINGTON D.C. (CelebrityAccess) — Major social media platforms, including Facebook and Instagram, announced the suspension of the accounts of U.S. President Donald Trump after he appeared to incite a riot in the nation’s capital on Wednesday.
In a statement released on Thursday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the President’s account will be suspended “indefinitely” until at least after the inauguration of President-Elect Joe Biden on January 20th.
“We believe the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great,” Zuckerberg wrote in a post explaining the decision. “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.”
Other digital platforms, including YouTube and Twitter began taking steps to limit the President’s use of the services on Wednesday after he continued to make false and inflammatory claims about the results of the 2020 election, even as rioters continued to walk the halls of the U.S. Capitol building.
Twitter locked Trump’s account on Wednesday evening for at least 12 hours but plans to restore the account after the President removed several inflammatory posts.
As well, e-commerce platform Shopify removed several websites associated with Trump that it said violated its policies, including the President’s official merch site Trumpstore.com.
In a statement to CNBC, Shopify said: “Shopify does not tolerate actions that incite violence. Based on recent events, we have determined that the actions by President Donald J. Trump violate our Acceptable Use Policy, which prohibits promotion or support of organizations, platforms or people that threaten or condone violence to further a cause. As a result, we have terminated stores affiliated with President Trump.”
