San Francisco (AFP)

Facebook announced Friday to suspend Donald Trump for two years, and that politicians would now be punished like other users when they violate the rules of the social network, especially in the event of disinformation.

The former US president will only be able to return when the "risks to the safety of the public have disappeared," said the platform, which had temporarily excluded him on January 7 for having encouraged his supporters during the attack on the Capitol. in Washington the day before, an unprecedented decision.

The social media giant has created a new rule tailored to the events of January 6, with penalties ranging from one month to two years of suspension for public figures in the event of unrest and violence, according to a statement. .

In this context, repeat offenders can be banned for good.

Facebook had asked its very young supervisory board to assess the relevance of the exclusion for an indefinite period of Donald Trump, but the body had returned the ball to its camp in early May.

"Facebook's decision is an insult to the 75 million people, plus many more, who voted for us in the fraudulent 2020 presidential election," the former head of state, ostracized by most of the major platforms since the riots which left several dead and shocked the country.

The council had above all called on the network to clarify its "arbitrary" rules: "the same rules should apply to all users" insisted its international and independent members.

Whose act: Facebook has just ended the very controversial immunity enjoyed by elected officials and candidates who break its rules, in the name of "the public's interest in being informed".

"When we evaluate content in terms of importance to the information, we will not treat the words of politicians differently from those of others," said the California group.

- Preferential treatment -

But until January, Facebook had mostly been lax vis-à-vis the Republican billionaire.

Mark Zuckerberg, the head of the Californian group, has refused for years to play the role of "arbiter of online truth".

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A position that has become untenable with Donald Trump, quick to minimize the seriousness of the pandemic or to denounce, without proof, alleged electoral fraud.

So many words that add fuel to the fire in a country that is already very divided.

The invasion of Congress, which killed several people, was a turning point.

But Facebook had not returned to its list of political figures exempted from some of its rules and sanctions (on disinformation, in particular) so that the public could form their own opinion.

This preferential treatment drew a lot of criticism, including internally.

Facebook's reluctance to remove messages from Donald Trump a year ago, seen as support for police violence during protests against widespread racism, had been publicly disowned by employees.

Accused of serving as a megaphone for the former president, the platform and its neighbors, like Twitter, have tightened their moderation of content, with a lot of reports backed by problematic messages.

These initiatives do not prevent Democrats from blaming them for their ineffectiveness in containing disinformation, while Republicans accuse them of censorship.

"They should not have the right to censor and muzzle like that. But in the end we will win," Donald Trump assured his supporters on Friday.

© 2021 AFP