Donald Trump will remain banned from Facebook until at least January 2023, at which point the social network will "assess whether the risk to public safety has receded" and decide whether the former president should regain control of his Facebook and Instagram accounts.
The news was announced alongside details of how Facebook will enforce its rules for public figures going forward. Trump was “indefinitely suspended” from the platform after posting his support for a pro-Trump mob that stormed US Capitol in January.
“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,” the company said today. “We are suspending his accounts for two years, effective from the date of the initial suspension on January 7 this year.”
Come January 2023, Facebook will ask "experts" to "evaluate external factors, including instances of violence, restrictions on peaceful assembly and other markers of civil unrest," it said. "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.”
If Trump is permitted to return, "there will be a strict set of rapidly escalating sanctions that will be triggered if Mr. Trump commits further violations in future, up to and including permanent removal of his pages and accounts,” the company explained.
The decision will no doubt infuriate Trump fans and critics alike, which Facebook acknowledged. "We know today’s decision will be criticized by many people on opposing sides of the political divide—but our job is to make a decision in as proportionate, fair and transparent a way as possible, in keeping with the instruction given to us by the Oversight Board," the company said.
That Oversight Board, an independent body that evaluates controversial Facebook content-removal decisions and issues binding decisions, found that imposing an indefinite suspension on Trump’s account was inappropriate. According to the board, Facebook needed to once and for all clarify its approach on regulating the former president’s account.
Facebook has now settled on a two-year suspension, calling it a deterrent to Trump and other public figures from “committing such severe violations in future, and to be proportionate to the gravity of the violation itself.”
The approach is similar to YouTube, which also suspended Trump's access to his account. The Google-owned site plans to restore the access but only if the potential for more political violence has died down. Twitter has said Trump is banned permanently.
In a statement, Trump said the decision is an "insult" to his voters, CNBC reports.
During a Friday press briefing, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said "this is a decision by a private-sector company. We'll see what their evaluation is a couple of years from now," adding that "it's feels pretty unlikely that the zebra's going to change his stripes over the next two years," referring to the former president.
Editors' Note:Editors' Note: This story was updated with comments from Trump and Psaki.