Psaki says it's 'pretty unlikely that the zebra is going to change his stripes over the next two years' when asked about Facebook's Trump ban
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- Psaki expressed doubt that Trump will use Facebook differently if he gets his account back in two years.
- "Feels pretty unlikely that the zebra is going to change his stripes over the next two years," she said.
- Facebook announced on Friday that it would uphold Trump's ban for at least two years.
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White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Friday expressed doubt that former President Donald Trump will use social media platform differently if he eventually regained access to his accounts. Facebook announced earlier in the day that it would uphold Trump's ban for at least two years.
"We learned a lot from President Trump, the former president, over the last couple of years about his behavior and how he uses these platforms," Psaki told reporters. "Feels pretty unlikely that the zebra is going to change his stripes over the next two years. We'll see."
Psaki added that the White House believes "it's a decision for the company to make" but that every platform spreading information to millions of Americans "has a responsibility to crack down on disinformation."
-ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) June 4, 2021
Facebook announced on Friday that Trump will remain blocked from the platform until at least January 7, 2023. The company banned Trump in the wake of the January 6 Capitol insurrection, citing further risks of violence. Last month Facebook's Oversight Board, an external group of experts that can overrule CEO Mark Zuckerberg's decisions, upheld Trump's suspension.
Trump has been widely accused of inciting the insurrection and rallying his supporters to violently storm the Capitol through social media.
"Given the gravity of the circumstances that led to Mr. Trump's suspension, we believe his actions constituted a severe violation of our rules which merit the highest penalty available under the new enforcement protocols," the company said in a press release.
After the two-year period, Trump's ban will be re-evaluated. His account will only be reinstated if an assessment shows there is no "serious risk to public safety," Facebook said.
If the suspension is lifted and Trump violates the company's policy again, Facebook said "there will be a strict set of rapidly escalating sanctions that will be triggered," which could include a permanent removal of his account.
Trump, in a statement through his leadership PAC, denounced the move as "abuse."
"They shouldn't be allowed to get away with this censoring and silencing, and ultimately, we will win," the former president said.
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