Facebook Inc has announced that Donald Trump will be banned from the social media platform for a further two years.
The former POTUS was suspended indefinitely from both Facebook and Instagram back in January following posts the 74-year-old made regarding the deadly Capitol riots.
However, per BBC News, the social media giant faced criticism last month from Facebook's Oversight Board - which consists of media, legal, and other experts - regarding the "open-ended" penalty.
As a result, Facebook's Vice President of Global Affairs and former Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Nick Clegg confirmed on Friday (June 4) that Trump's ban will last until January 7, 2023.
Clegg, per The Independent, said in a statement:
"Given the gravity of the circumstances that led to Mr Trump’s suspension, we believe his actions constituted a severe violation of our rules which merit the highest penalty available under the new enforcement protocols.
"We are suspending his accounts for two years, effective from the date of the initial suspension on 7 January this year."
Clegg added that when Trump's ban comes to an end, Facebook will look to "experts to assess whether the risk to public safety has receded," adding: "If we 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 re-evaluate until that risk has receded."
Additionally, Clegg offered clarity on the length of the ban, adding:
"Establishing the two year sanction for severe violations, we considered the need for it to be long enough to allow a safe period of time after the acts of incitement, to be significant enough to be a deterrent to Mr Trump and others from committing such severe violations in future, and to be proportionate to the gravity of the violation itself."
In response to the news, Donald Trump has issued a statement from his Save America political action committee.
Trump called the decision an "insult to the record-setting 75m people, plus many others, who voted for us".
The former president added: "They shouldn't be allowed to get away with this censoring and silencing, and ultimately, we will win. Our country can't take this abuse anymore!"
In a second statement, Trump wrote: "Next time I'm in the White House there will be no more dinners, at his request, with Mark Zuckerberg and his wife. It will be all business!"
Of course, the ban will come to an end before the 2024 presidential election, should Trump consider a run.
Per the BBC, Facebook's decision comes as the platform is looking to end its policy that protects politicians from some content moderation rules. The social media giants said that it would no longer provide immunity for politicians who post deceptive or abusive content.