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Trump hits out after length of 'insulting' Facebook ban revealed

Former US President Donald Trump has hit out at his Facebook ban as it is revealed he will not be able to use the social media platform until at least 2023.

Facebook Inc on Friday suspended former Trump until at least January 2023 and announced changes to how it will treat world leaders who break the company's rules on postings on its site.

Facebook had suspended Trump's account the day after the January 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.

Former US President Donald Trump addresses the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) held in the Hyatt Regency.
Former US President Donald Trump has had his Facebook account suspended until at least the start of 2023. Source: Getty Images

Trump criticised the decision as a form of censorship and an insult to his voters.

In a statement on Friday, Trump slammed the decision and repeated false claims of voter fraud.

"Facebook's ruling is an insult to the record-setting 75M people, plus many others, who voted for us in the 2020 Rigged Presidential Election,” he said.

“They shouldn’t be allowed to get away with this censoring and silencing, and ultimately, we will win. Our Country can’t take this abuse anymore!"

Several investigations have not found evidence of election fraud.

Protesters enter the Senate Chamber in Washington, DC.
Protesters storm the Senate Chamber during the US Capitol riots earlier this year. Source: Getty Images

Zuckerberg dinners scrapped

Trump added, "Next time I'm in the White House there will be no more dinners, at his request, with Mark Zuckerberg and his wife. It will be all business!"

This new timeline denies 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 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.

 In this photo illustration a Facebook logo is seen on a smartphone screen in front of words 'Problems at Facebook' and a graphic which displayed on Downdetector website.
Facebook said Trump's actions were a 'severe violation' of its rules. Source: Getty Images (file pic)

Facebook's oversight board, an independent group funded by the company who rule on a small slice of controversial content decisions, in May upheld the company's unprecedented block on Trump.

However, the board ruled it was wrong to make the ban indefinite and called for a "proportionate response."

Facebook said it would work with experts to decide when the public safety risk had subsided for Trump to be restored to its platforms. It said it would evaluate factors including instances of violence, restrictions on peaceful assembly and other markers of civil unrest.

It also said there would be a set of escalating sanctions that would be triggered if Trump broke further rules that could lead to his permanent removal.

White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki, speaking to reporters, said of Facebook's decision on Trump that it felt "pretty unlikely that the zebra is going to change his stripes over the next two years, we'll see."

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