Trump lashes out at Facebook after his ban is extended until at least 2023



Former President Donald Trump lashed out at social media giant Facebook on Friday after they announced its decision to keep him banned until at least 2023.

Trump had been banned from Facebook in the wake of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol after Facebook determined that his statements decrying the authenticity of the 2020 election could incite more violence.

On Friday, the social media giant said his ban would continue until at least Jan. 7, 2023, when the company would reconsider whether he should be allowed back on its platform.

"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," Trump wrote.

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

The former president had begun sending messages to supporters via a blog website but it was shut down permanently after operating for about a month. A Trump aide said that it was a precursor to him joining another social media platform.

Some on the Left who were demanding a lifetime ban complained that the ruling on his ban meant that Trump was most likely going to return to Facebook. Supporters of the former president accused Facebook of violating his free speech rights.

Facebook Vice President of Global Affairs Nick Clegg addressed the controversy over the ban in a statement on Friday.

"We know that any penalty we apply — or choose not to apply — will be controversial. There are many people who believe it was not appropriate for a private company like Facebook to suspend an outgoing president from its platform, and many others who believe Mr. Trump should have immediately been banned for life," wrote Clegg.

"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," he concluded.

Here's more about the ban on Trump's Facebook:

Facebook suspends Trump's account until 2023www.youtube.com

Trump says there’s hope for a 2024 run during viral interview — and Facebook yanks video saying 'voice of Donald Trump' is not allowed on platform



In a Tuesday night interview, former President Donald Trump said that there's "hope" for a 2024 run — and Facebook almost immediately yanked video of the interview from its site, stating that the "voice of Donald Trump" is not permitted on the social media network.

What are the details?

In remarks made during an interview with daughter-in-law Lara Trump on "The Right View," the former president said that his supporters should have "hope" that he will run again in 2024.

During the interview, he also stated that he should have won the 2020 presidential election and blasted President Joe Biden for the job he's done in office since January.

Lara asked the former president, "The other question people all want to know — and I know you're not ready to answer it yet — but do we have hope that there's a possibility to see Donald Trump run again in 2024?"

He responded, "You do have hope, that I can tell you. You do have hope. We love our country — this country. We all owe a lot to our country, but now we have to help our country. ... And we were there. We were so good. What we did with Iran, what we did with China. We were all set to do some great things. And then you see what's going on right now."

Lara later added, "So we may see a Trump run again in 2024. Stay tuned, ladies and gentlemen."

Not even Trump's voice is allowed on Facebook

On Wednesday, Facebook yanked instances of the interview off its platform, stating that any content "in the voice of Donald Trump" would be scrubbed from the site altogether.

Following the interview, a Facebook employee reportedly messaged several Trump affiliates and warned that any such content would be removed from the platform and that continued infractions could result in "additional limitations on accounts that posted it."

"This guidance applies to all campaign accounts and Pages, including Team Trump, other campaign messaging vehicles on our platforms, and former surrogates," the email, posted on Lara's Instagram, stated.

The message said, "Hi folks. We are reaching out to let you know that we removed content from Lara Trump's Facebook Page that featured President Trump speaking. In line with the block we placed on Donald Trump's Facebook and Instagram accounts, further content posted in the voice of Donald Trump will be removed and result in additional limitations on the accounts."

What else is there to know?

A spokesperson for Facebook confirmed the report with NBC News on Wednesday.

Facebook blocked the former president following the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol, insisting that the risks of permitting him to use Facebook following the insurrection were "too great."

You can watch the full 18-minute video below:

HS principal on leave after comparing social media speech crackdowns to 'McCarthyism' in video message to students



The principal of a Tennessee high school is on paid administrative leave after comparing social media's speech crackdowns to "McCarthyism" during a homeroom video message to students.

What are the details?

During his nine-minute address Monday, principal Barton Thorne of Cordova High School, near Memphis, said freedom of speech is being threatened by social media and tech companies, the Commercial Appeal reported.

Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube have all banned President Donald Trump — along with thousands of other users — in the wake of last week's U.S. Capitol riot.

WREG-TV said it obtained audio of Thorne's remarks to students during which he criticized the riot as well as the behavior of social media.

"It's what's going on with Twitter and Facebook and Google and Apple and their decision as private companies to filter and to decide what ... you hear and know about," Thorne said, according to the station.

Thorne stressed that his comments weren't about Trump but about freedom of speech, WREG reported.

"Because there have been times even in American history where a small group of people decided what you could hear. You think about McCarthyism," he said, according the station. "If you don't know about that, you can Google that or talk to your social studies teacher."

Thorne also offered broad comparisons to 1990s federal standoffs in Ruby Ridge, Idaho, and in Waco, Texas, by Branch Davidians and David Koresh, the Commercial Appeal reported.

Thorne also told students that "a marketplace of free exchange of ideas" is at stake, the paper added, and that the lack of social media accountability and regulation "should be very chilling for you, that should be very frightening for you."

He did denounce the U.S. Capitol siege, calling it "ignorance at the highest level. I don't know of too many people that are going to be okay with what happened. I don't care what side you agree with, we don't practice sedition, we don't attack our legislature," the Commerical Appeal noted.

How did the school district react?

Officials of Shelby County Schools are reviewing Thorne's comments, WREG said.

"To my understanding it was a recording that was shared on our virtual platforms," Jerrica Phillips, the district's chief of communications, told the station. Phillips added to the station that she'll "have to learn more about whether or not it was an opening school message or how exactly it went out or what time of day."

WREG said Thorne's comments come at a time when SCS is working to help staff know the right way and wrong way to address politics and other issues.

"Emotionally charged situations, we have to sometimes temper back, recalibrate, think about the message we're sending to our student," Michael Lowe of the SCS Office of Equity and Access told the station. "Because Cordova is like the City of Memphis; it's made up of a salad bowl of many different students of all areas of Memphis."

District board member Sheleah Harris said the allegations are "extremely unfortunate and do not reflect the true value of" the school or the district, the Commercial Appeal reported.

"With the horrific events from last week at our U.S. Capitol, we have to ensure our children, teachers, and school staff remain in a consistent environment that promotes safety, cultural sensitivity, and represents the highest level of excellence," Harris added in a statement to the paper. "As leaders, we must be intentional about creating spaces for our students to discuss and process events that take place in our country and community."

Anything else?

The Commercial Appeal reported that Thorne on Wednesday said "individuals who are inciting violence should be removed" and that a supervisor asked him to not speak at length to the media about his speech to students and the district's investigation.

Leaders in Germany and France attack Twitter's move to ban President Trump, blast Big Tech for curbing free speech



Following the riots at the U.S. Capitol last week, activists put extreme pressure on social media companies to ban President Donald Trump — and some of his supporters — from their platforms.

Big Tech acquiesced, and by Friday night, Twitter had permanently banned Trump, Facebook and Instagram suspended him indefinitely, and Snapchat disabled his account. Shopify and Twitch both suspended and banned any accounts even related to President Trump. PayPal, Discord, Tiktok, YouTube, Pinterest, Google, and Apple have taken actions against Trump, his supporters, and any activities or content related to the president.

Naturally, the president has received support from well-known figures on the right — regardless of whether they were on board with his claims of massive election fraud that led to Wednesday's protests and riots — who denounced Big Tech's efforts to silence the president.

Even the ACLU came out against the de-platforming of the president.

Now the president is getting backing from a couple of unexpected places across the pond: Germany and France.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday through chief spokesman Steffen Seibert that Twitter's Trump ban is a problem and that corporations should not be messing with free speech, Fortune reported.

"The chancellor sees the complete closing down of the account of an elected president as problematic," Seibert said, according to Fortune, adding that the freedom of speech "can be interfered with, but by law and within the framework defined by the legislature — not according to a corporate decision."

Seibert added that Merkel believes the U.S. should pass regulations to restrict online incitement rather than just leaving it up to Big Tech, the Financial Times reported. He went on to say that speech should be restricted by government, not "the management of social media platforms," highlighting a difference between the U.S. approach to policing internet platforms and how the E.U. approaches the issue, as the Financial Times pointed out:

But Ms Merkel said through her spokesman that the US government should follow Germany's lead in adopting laws that restrict online incitement, rather than leaving it up to platforms such as Twitter and Facebook to make up their own rules.

The intervention highlights a key area of disagreement between the US and Europe on how to regulate social media platforms. The EU wants to give regulators more powers to force Internet platforms such as Facebook or Twitter to remove illegal content.

In the US, technology companies have traditionally been left to themselves to police their own sites, though momentum is gathering behind political moves to curtail their regulatory freedoms. Several members of Congress are working on bills which would limit the legal protections social media companies have from being sued for third party content posted on their sites.

France Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire echoed Merkel's criticism of Big Tech's anti-speech moves. Le Maire told France Inter, the Financial Times said, that he was "shocked" by Twitter's move.

"Digital regulation should not be done by the digital oligarchy itself," he said, according to a translation provided by the Financial Times, adding, "Regulation of the digital arena is a matter for the sovereign people, governments and the judiciary."

Supermodel Emily Ratajkowski: Facebook banning President Trump gives big tech the 'MOST POWER' — and now it 'can shut any of us up'



Supermodel Emily Ratajkowski told her 1.5 million Twitter followers Thursday that Facebook indefinitely banning President Donald Trump in the wake of the U.S. Capitol siege gives big tech the "MOST POWER" — and makes clear that it "can shut any of us up."

This gives Facebook/tech/Zuck THE MOST POWER. If he can shut the president up/off he can shut any of us up/off
— Emily Ratajkowski (@Emily Ratajkowski)1610043781.0

She followed up her tweet with a protective caveat, saying she realizes "this is going to be an unpopular take but seems worth pointing out."

How did her followers react?

It's common for the Twitter mob to quickly lash out at celebrities who even appear to question criticism or harsh treatment of Trump, and it was no different in Ratajkowski's case:

  • "Are you f***in serious girl??????" stand-up comic Krystyna Hutchinson asked.
  • "THATS what you choose to speak on today?" another commenter asked the supermodel. "Not the territorials or unjust treatment of minorities in this country?? I wish someone would censor you."
  • "Even Republicans have said he is squarely to blame," another user said in regard to Trump. "You worship this man for what?"
  • "This is such a privileged take, omfg," another user declared. "You think a marginalized person can talk a bigot out of bigotry? Reason rarely wins online debate. People believe what they want to believe & look for confirmation. This fantasy world where you can change people through more speech is absurd."

But a surprising number of others agreed with Ratajkowski:

  • "Been yelling this for yrs but w/ the left monopolizing media & actually promoting censorship of conservatives it went unheard," one user said. "But get ready cuz the left is just getting warmed up. Next they'll be making lists & assigning re-education camps for those of us engaging in wrong think."
  • "The president of Iran has a twitter account & the leader of the free world doesn't lol," another commenter observed.
  • "Welcome to our concerns about leftist media power," another user replied.
  • "I've said it before, the right cannot ever win the culture war as long as they allow the left to control the means of communication," another commenter said. "Zuckerberg, Dorsey, and Pichai are the people Patriots should be going after, then the big media, then they can tackle the political class."
  • "Thank you Emily," another user wrote. "Though we may not agree on politics, we certainly believe that no one should be allowed to stop Free Speech. Thank you for taking a stand."

She's particularly concerned about the left losing its voice

Ratajkowski also tweeted an explanation for her position, noting that "my concern is that this gives big tech the opportunity to shut down 'leftist extremists' who are important political organizers."

My concern is that this gives big tech the opportunity to shut down “leftist extremists” who are important political organizers.
— Emily Ratajkowski (@Emily Ratajkowski)1610045424.0

And she's suspicious about something else

She also wondered if the ease with which rioters stormed Capitol made it "wildly convenient" for big tech to institute "censorship."

Anything else?

Ratajkowski is kind of a mixed bag when it comes to left-wing politics and being a "woke" celebrity.

In October she seemed to climb aboard the gender revolution train, writing in Vogue that she and her husband "won't know the gender" of their baby "until our child is 18" and "they'll let us know then."

And while Ratajkowski publicly backed Democratic socialist presidential candidate Bernie Sanders in 2016 and took some heat for partnering with Planned Parenthood a year earlier, in 2017 she stood up for Melania Trump after a New York Times journalist called the first lady a "hooker."

Facebook 'indefinitely' de-platforms President Donald Trump



Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has announced that Facebook and Facebook-owned Instagram have banned President Donald Trump from using their social media platforms "indefinitely" — and certainly for at least the next two weeks.

The move comes a day after a rogue mass of Trump supporters violently stormed the U.S. Capitol. At least four people died, including one who was shot inside the Capitol, and dozens of people were arrested in Wednesday's events.

What are the details?

In a Thursday Facebook post, Zuckerberg wrote, "The shocking events of the last 24 hours clearly demonstrate that President Donald Trump intends to use his remaining time in office to undermine the peaceful and lawful transition of power to his elected successor, Joe Biden.

"His 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," the Facebook CEO continued. "We removed these statements yesterday because we judged that their effect — and likely their 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," the post continued.

As such, Zuckerberg noted that the company has, for the most part, permitted Trump to freely engage in discussion and discourse on social media.

"Over the last several years, we have allowed President Trump to use our platform consistent with our own rules, at times removing content or labeling his posts when they violate our policies. We did this because we believe that the public has a right to the broadest possible access to political speech, even controversial speech," he explained. "But the current context is now fundamentally different, involving use of our platform to incite violent insurrection against a democratically elected government."

Zuckerberg pointed out that the "risks" of permitting Trump to post on social media at this time are "simply too great."

"We believe the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great," the post concluded. "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."