NEW YORK: Facebook Inc on Friday suspended former US president Donald Trump from its platform until at least January 2023 and announced changes to how it will treat rule-breaking world leaders in the future.

Facebook said the suspension, which will last at least two years from Jan 7 when he was initially blocked after the Capitol riot, will only be lifted if the risk to public safety has receded. Trump called the Facebook suspension “an insult” to Americans who voted for him.

This new timeline denies Trump a major social media megaphone ahead of the November 2022 national mid-term elections, when his party will be competing for Congressional seats. However, it means he may be able to return to Facebook well before the next presidential election in late 2024.

Trump has been permanently banned by Twitter and remains suspended by Alphabet’s YouTube after the riot.

The former president, who this week shut down his recently-launched blog, has teased plans to launch his own platform but his team has given little detail.

Published in Dawn, June 5th, 2021