Shopify joins Facebook and Instagram Trump ban
Donald Trump has been banned from Facebook and Instagram until the presidential transition is completed, Mark Zuckerberg has confirmed – and the ban could go on for longer.
Zuckerberg, the founder and CEO of Facebook, which owns Instagram, confirmed the current US President would be banned from posting on the platforms for the remaining days before Joe Biden’s inauguration.
Today Shopify took down stores on its e-commerce platform affiliated with Trump.
Shopify said the recent events determined that Trump’s actions violated its policy, which prohibits promotion or support of organisations, platforms or people that threaten or condone violence to further a cause.
The decisions follow riots at Capitol Hill yesterday, when Trump supporters descended on Washington DC where they broke into the Capitol. Four died as a result of the chaos.
Zuckerberg said: “[Trump’s] decision to use his platform to condone rather than condemn the actions of his supporters at the Capitol building has rightly disturbed people in the US and around the world. We removed these statements yesterday because we judged that their effect – and likely intent – would be to provoke further violence.
“Following the certification of the election results by Congress, the priority for the whole country must now be to ensure that the remaining 13 days and the days after inauguration pass peacefully and in accordance with established democratic norms.
“We believe the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great. 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.”
Mob at the Capitol
Yesterday Congress was forced to pause the voter certification process – a process to confirm the winner of the Presidential election – because a mob descended on Capitol Hill.
Thousands of Trump supporters marched from the White House, having listened to a speech from Trump that instructed supporters to “fight” for him.
Rioters successfully breached the doors of the Capitol building, breaking windows and causing carnage. Four people died because of the chaos and more than 50 were arrested.
Trump did little to calm the protestors, instead doubling down on his fraudulent election claims. He later tweeted his supporters should “stay peaceful”.
Twitter, Trump’s preferred social media network, has removed three tweets from the President in the last 24 hours.
Since November’s election Donald Trump has baselessly insisted he was the election’s victor, despite failing to win more Electoral College votes than his Democrat rival Joe Biden.
Biden won the election by 306-232 in the state-by-state Electoral College and by more than 7 million ballots in the national popular vote, but Trump continued to falsely claim there was widespread fraud and that he was the victor.
This morning the certification process continued, confirming Joe Biden as the next President. Trump still refused to accept defeat, but appeared to accept that there would be an orderly transition.
“Even though I totally disagree with the outcome of the election, and the facts bear me out, nevertheless there will be an orderly transition on January 20th,” he said.
“I have always said we would continue our fight to ensure that only legal votes were counted. While this represents the end of the greatest first term in presidential history, it’s only the beginning of our fight to Make America Great Again!”