Donald Trump will not be allowed back on Facebook after the firm’s oversight board decided to uphold a ban on the former US president imposed in January.
The former US president was blocked from the platform indefinitely following violent clashes in the US Capitol on January 6, which Mr Trump was blamed for inciting.
Videos shared across the 74-year-old’s social accounts called those who stormed the Capitol “patriots” and said: “We love you.”
The incident resulted in five people dying.
The board concluded that two posts by Mr Trump “severely violated” Facebook’s Community Standard but said it was “not appropriate” for the social network to impose “the indeterminate and standardless penalty of indefinite suspension”.
“Given the seriousness of the violations and the ongoing risk of violence, Facebook was justified in suspending Mr Trump’s accounts on January 6 and extending that suspension on January 7,” the board said.
However, the panel said it was “not appropriate for Facebook to impose the indeterminate and standardless penalty of indefinite suspension”.
“Facebook’s normal penalties include removing the violating content, imposing a time-bound period of suspension or permanently disabling the page and account,” the group said.
“The board insists that Facebook review this matter to determine and justify a proportionate response that is consistent with the rules that are applied to other users of its platform.
“Facebook must complete its review of this matter within six months of the date of this decision.”
The Board has upheld Facebook’s decision on January 7 to suspend then-President Trump from Facebook and Instagram. Trump’s posts during the Capitol riot severely violated Facebook’s rules and encouraged and legitimized violence. https://t.co/veRvWpeyCi
— Oversight Board (@OversightBoard) May 5, 2021
It comes as Mr Trump has launched his own communications channel, publishing posts from the former US president.
From The Desk Of Donald J Trump looks like a Facebook or Twitter feed and contains short blog posts similar to those the businessman used to send from his social media accounts.
Users can “like” the posts and share them to their own Facebook and Twitter pages, as well as sign up for notifications so they are alerted each time there is new content from Mr Trump.
They can also make donations to the 45th president’s political action campaign.
A number of the posts already on the new feed, which appears to have been active since early April, make false claims and push debunked conspiracy theories about Mr Trump’s defeat to Joe Biden in the presidential election last year.
READ MORE: Donald Trump's firm slammed for claiming up to £500,000 from furlough scheme
Other posts attack political opponents and the social media platforms themselves in a similar fashion to how the former president’s Twitter account operated before it was suspended.
Mr Trump was banned from Facebook, Twitter and a number of other platforms earlier this year for inciting violence, including failing to condemn and even praising rioters who stormed the US Capitol in January.
At the time, Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg said the social media giant had taken the decision because Mr Trump had used the platform to “incite violent insurrection against a democratically elected government”.
Since leaving office, there had been reports that Mr Trump would look to create and launch his own social media platform as a way to get around his ongoing bans, as well as directly reaching out to his supporters.
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