FACEBOOK REMOVES VIDEO OF TRUMP INTERVIEW, CITING BAN

Thu 01 April 2021:

Social media giant Facebook has removed a video of an interview with the former US President Donald Trump, who remains banned from the platform, from his daughter-in-law Lara Trump’s Facebook page, a company spokeswoman said on Wednesday.

Lara Trump, who is married to the former president’s son Eric and recently joined Fox News as a contributor, had promoted an interview with Trump for her own online show, The Right View, in Instagram posts on Tuesday.

She later posted a screenshot of an email from Facebook that said her video with Trump speaking had been removed, citing the ban on his accounts.

Trump was suspended from Facebook and Facebook-owned Instagram indefinitely over incitement of violence following the January 6 riot by Trump supporters at the US Capitol in Washington, DC. Facebook has sent the case of Trump’s suspension to its independent oversight board.

“In line with the block we placed on Donald Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts, further content posted in the voice of Donald Trump will be removed and result in additional limitations on the accounts,” the email read.

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A post shared by Lara Trump (@laraleatrump)

The Facebook spokeswoman, who spoke on condition that her name not be used, confirmed the email was real but declined to comment. Trump spokesman Jason Miller did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the action.

In another email shared by Lara Trump on her Facebook page, Facebook said the guidance applied to all campaign accounts, messaging vehicles and former Trump surrogates on the site.

Since the ban, the former president has been shown speaking on Facebook’s platforms in news coverage from outlets such as Fox News and Newsmax.

Trump was barred by several social media platforms after the riot, including Twitter Inc, which has said its ban is permanent, and Alphabet Inc’s YouTube, which said it will reinstate his account when the risk of violence decreases.