Trump banned from Facebook and Instagram ‘indefinitely’ after Capitol chaos

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Donald Trump has been blocked from using Facebook and Instagram "indefinitely", according to Mark Zuckerberg.

Following the deadly Capitol invasion by armed Trump supporters, the outgoing US President is officially banned from the social media platforms "at least for the next two weeks".

Zuckerberg, the founder and CEO of Facebook (which owns Instagram) announced the unprecedented move on Thursday.

"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," he wrote in a Facebook post.

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"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."

Four people were killed in the Washington DC riots which saw hundreds of protesters force their way inside the Capitol building which houses the US Congress.

They'd been encouraged to gather outside the complex as part of the "March to Save America" rally organised by President Trump, who has insisted for weeks that he won the November election and his victory has been stolen by the Democrats.

As his supporters stormed the Capitol, forcing politicians, staffers and journalists to shelter in place as a lockdown was declared, Trump refused to condemn the violence.

Instead he uploaded a video of himself in which he reiterated his claim of a stolen election and told the rioters "we love you, you're very special".

Twitter, which is Trump's preferred social media platform, quickly flagged the clip as containing false claims and it was later removed from the website.

Trump was also temporarily blocked from using Twitter, but it remains to be seen if he will be permanently banned.

During his 12-hour Twitter ban, Trump's deputy chief of staff issued a short statement saying the president will commit to an "orderly transition" of power on January 20 when Joe Biden will be sworn into the White House.

Trump's statement maintained that he "totally disagrees with the outcome of the election".

• Donald Trump
• Facebook
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