Facebook suspends Trump's account for two years

The social network Facebook announced this Friday that it

will keep the account of former President Donald Trump suspended until January 2023,

for a total of two years, for having incited the violence that unleashed in the seizure of the Capitol on January 6 of this year, according to an internal investigation conducted by the tech giant. 

In a statement on his website, Facebook's vice president for global affairs Nick Clegg said he was giving the former Republican president "the highest penalty" for his actions.

Despite the fact that courts and states denied a fraud, 53% of Republicans believe that Trump is the legitimate president

May 25, 202101: 50

"Given the gravity of the circumstances that led to the suspension of Mr. Trump, we believe that

his actions constituted a serious violation of our rules that deserve the highest penalty

available under the new enforcement protocols. We will suspend your accounts for two years, starting from the date of the initial suspension on January 7 of this year, "the announcement reads.

The decision was made after Facebook's quasi-independent Oversight Board said last month that the platform was justified in removing Trump's access the day after the Jan.6 attack on Capitol Hill.

Facebook was then ordered to review the suspension.

Clegg linked the blocking of Trump's account to the role the Republican played in the seizure of the Capitol on January 6, when a crowd of his supporters stormed the headquarters of Congress seeking to disrupt the counting of electoral votes that solidified the presidential victory. by Joe Biden.

Trump reacted in a statement sent to the press less than an hour after the announcement. 

"Facebook's ruling is an insult to the 75 million record-breaking people, plus many others, who voted for us in the rigged 2020 presidential election," Trump said, without presenting evidence of alleged election fraud.

"They must not be allowed to get away with this censorship and silencing and ultimately we will win. Our country can no longer bear this abuse!"

Former President Donald Trump leaves the Trump Tower in Manhattan on May 18, 2021 in New York City.James Devaney / GC Images

At the end of this two-year suspension period, Facebook says, if they 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 reassess until that risk has abated."

[They published on social networks photos and videos of the assault on the Capitol: this is how the FBI is identifying the attackers]

If Trump commits more violations of Facebook policies after the suspension is lifted, "there will be a strict set of rapidly escalating sanctions that will kick in," they said,

"up to and including the permanent deletion of his pages and accounts."

Trump took advantage of social media during his presidency to bypass the media (who could hold him accountable) to speak directly to his followers, especially through his Twitter account, which was also suspended.

Since then, the former president has issued statements through his PAC, or Political Action Committee, Save America.

He also tried to launch a blog, but it was short-lived.

With information from NBC News.