Facebook Inc on Friday suspended former U.S. President Donald Trump until at least January 2023 and announced changes to how it will treat world leaders who break the rules on its site, Trend reports citing Reuters.
Facebook had suspended Trump's account the day after the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol Hill riot, determining he had incited violence. That suspension will last at least two years from the date of the initial block and would only be lifted if the risk to public safety has receded, Facebook said on Friday.
Trump criticized the decision as a form of censorship and an insult to his voters.
This new timeline denies Republican Trump a major social media megaphone ahead of the November 2022 congressional elections. However, it means he may be able to return to Facebook well before the next presidential election in late 2024.
Trump has been permanently banned by Twitter and remains suspended by Alphabet’s (GOOGL.O) YouTube after the riot. Trump, who this week shut down his recently-launched blog, has teased plans to start his own platform.
"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," Facebook's head of global affairs Nick Clegg said in the post.