Trump banned indefinitely from Facebook — what you need to know

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Ban might lift in two weeks after Biden takes office

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(Image credit: Cheriss May/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a post Thursday (Jan. 7) that President Donald Trump had been banned from both Facebook and Instagram indefinitely following Wednesday's storming of the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters. 

"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," Zuckerberg's post states.

Zuckerberg went on to say that the company will be extending a previous block on Trump's Facebook and Instagram accounts "indefinitely and for at least the next two weeks until the peaceful transition of power is complete."

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's posted statement explaining why President Trump had been banned from Facebook and Instagram.

(Image credit: Facebook)

Twitter put a 12-hour temporary suspension on Trump's account Wednesday evening following the Capitol Hill riot, but had restored service to his Twitter account by Thursday morning. 

The decision by social media platforms to temporarily block Trump's accounts came after a video message from the president that asked rioters to peacefully leave the Capitol but did little to condemn their actions. 

Twitter said that in order to unlock his account, Trump needed to delete three of his tweets that Twitter said amounted to "severe violations of our Civic Integrity policy." 

It also went on to state that Twitter would ban Trump's account permanently if he continued to break the site's rules. 

YouTube also took down the president's video.

Trump has continued to claim, without evidence, that the 2020 presidential election was rigged and victory stolen from him. He has cajoled his base to not accept the results, and in his video yesterday did not drop the fraud narrative, but rather exacerbated it. 

Supporters of the president have slowly moved to other social media platforms such as Parler, the platform on which The New York Times reported the attack on the Capitol was organized. 

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Imad Khan
Imad Khan

Imad is currently Senior Google and Internet Culture reporter for CNET, but until recently was News Editor at Tom's Guide. Hailing from Texas, Imad started his journalism career in 2013 and has amassed bylines with the New York Times, the Washington Post, ESPN, Wired and Men's Health Magazine, among others. Outside of work, you can find him sitting blankly in front of a Word document trying desperately to write the first pages of a new book.