Donald Trump has been permanently banned from Facebook after his posts about the Capitol riots created ‘an environment where a serious risk of violence was possible’.

The ruling was announced by the Facebook content Oversight Board today, Wednesday, who have decided that the then-president’s posts about the Capitol riots supported people ‘engaging in violence’.

The board said: ‘The Board found that the two posts by Mr Trump on January 6 severely violated Facebook’s Community Standards and Instagram’s Community Guidelines.

‘“We love you. You’re very special” in the first post and “great patriots” and “remember this day forever” in the second post violated Facebook’s rules prohibiting praise or support of people engaged in violence.’

Trump was initially suspended from Facebook and Instagram for 24 hours as a result of two posts he shared in which he appeared to praise the actions of rioters who stormed the Capitol on January 6.

In making its decision the Oversight Board said the violence Trump appeared to praise ‘threatened the constitutional process’ and caused the death of five people.

After the initial 24 hour ban on Trump’s accounts, a subsequent indefinite ban on his account was imposed by Facebook until at least after Joe Biden’s inauguration, on January 21, which is when the social media giant referred the case to the Oversight Board.

Following a review, the regulator said that at the time of Trump’s posts ‘there was a clear, immediate risk of harm and his words of support for those involved in the riots legitimized their violent actions’.

‘Given the seriousness of the violations and the ongoing risk of violence, Facebook was justified in suspending Mr Trump’s accounts on January 6 and extending that suspension on January 7’, the board added.

The review panel did note, however, that Facebook was not right to imposing a subsequent indefinite ban on the 74-year-old’s account.

In applying that penalty, Facebook did not follow its own ‘clear, published procedure’ for the suspension of user profiles.

But the board still chose to uphold Facebook’s decision to ‘suspend Mr Trump’s access to post content on Facebook and Instagram’.

According to the Oversight Board, a video Trump posted on Facebook and Instagram as rioter stormed the Capitol and a subsequent statement he posted on Facebook, two hours, were the ones that ‘seriously violated’ Facebook’s guidelines.

In the first post, Trump said: ‘I know your pain. I know you’re hurt. We had an election that was stolen from us.

‘It was a landslide election, and everyone knows it, especially the other side, but you have to go home now. We have to have peace. We have to have law and order. We have to respect our great people in law and order.

‘We don’t want anybody hurt. It’s a very tough period of time. There’s never been a time like this where such a thing happened, where they could take it away from all of us, from me, from you, from our country.

‘This was a fraudulent election, but we can’t play into the hands of these people. We have to have peace. So go home. We love you. You’re very special.

‘You’ve seen what happens. You see the way others are treated that are so bad and so evil. I know how you feel. But go home and go home in peace.’

The second post was made as the riots turned violent and MAGA fans broke into the Capitol building. Trump’s statement said ‘Remember this day forever!’.

In making a number of recommendations to Facebook along with its ruling, the Oversight Board said the company should ‘dedicate adequate resourcing and expertise to assess risks of harm from influential accounts globally’.

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