Politics

Sheryl Sandberg says Facebook has ‘no plans’ to lift Trump ban

Facebook has “no plans” to lift its indefinite ban on President Trump’s account, its chief operating officer said, adding that “the president is not above the policies we have.”

Speaking to Reuters columnist Gina Chon at the Reuters Next conference Monday, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg made the remarks while explaining how the company came to the decision to ban the commander-in-chief.

“We have clearly established principles that say you cannot call for violence,” Sandberg argued.

“In this moment, the risk to our democracy was too big that we felt we had to take the unprecedented step of what is an indefinite ban,” she said. “And I’m glad we did.”

Asked about the length of the ban, Facebook’s No. 2 did not provide a timeline: “Our ban is indefinite. We’ve said at least through the transition, but we have no plans to lift it.”

“We’ve been very clear. There’s obviously so much happening and this is such a big step. We will definitely let people know and be very transparent about any changes to that,” she continued.

Sandberg went on to say she was in favor of the ban, arguing that it “shows the president is not above the policies we have.”

Sandberg’s comments come less than one week after members of Congress were forced to evacuate in gas masks after hundreds of Trump supporters overpowered Capitol Police and breached the building.

The chaos included an armed standoff outside the House of Representatives’ chamber and multiple deaths amid the chaos.

The Electoral College went 306-232 for President-elect Joe Biden, but Trump has alleged that widespread fraud tipped the results in swing states.

Courts have rejected those claims, and Trump has refused to concede, though in the aftermath of the riots, he pledged a “peaceful transition of power.”

Less than one day after the incident, Facebook announced that the president would be blocked from its platform “indefinitely and for at least the next two weeks.”

President Trump's Facebook account was banned last week.
President Trump’s Facebook account was banned last week. Erin Schaff/Pool/Getty Images

“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,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote in a post on his personal Facebook account Thursday.

One day later, Twitter announced that it would be upgrading its temporary ban on the president to a permanent one, also citing the riots.

With Post wires