FACEBOOK has said it will suspend Donald Trump's accounts for two years following findings the former US president stoked insurrection in January.
The social media giant had been examining whether the 45th president of the US had stoked violence ahead of the fatal January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol in Washington DC.
A riot erupted in the capital city of the US as lawmakers met to formalise Joe Biden's victory over Trump.
Trump supporters infiltrated the building after marching to it following a speech by Trump earlier in the day. Five people died, more than 140 were injured and almost 200 arrests were made.
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon: We saw Donald Trump inciting insurrection in Washington last night
Nick Clegg (below), Facebook's vice president of global affairs and former leader of the LibDems, wrote in a blog post: "At the end of this period, we will look to experts to assess whether the risk to public safety has receded. We will evaluate external factors, including instances of violence, restrictions on peaceful assembly and other markers of civil unrest."
READ MORE: Donald Trump launches his own blog ahead of Facebook ban ruling
Facebook also plans to end a contentious policy championed by CEO Mark Zuckerberg that automatically exempted politicians from certain moderation rules on its site.
Facebook said that while it will still apply this "newsworthiness" exemption to certain posts it deems to be in the public interest even if they violate Facebook rules, it will no longer treat material posted by politicians any differently from what is posted by anyone else.
The move is in response to recommendations from the company's quasi-independent oversight board, which last month upheld a decision by Facebook to keep Trump indefinitely suspended but said the company must decide what to do with his accounts within six months.
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