On Monday, Facebook told its staff to avoid wearing company-branded clothing in public out of concern for their safety after the social media platform suspended Trump’s account.
“In light of recent events, and to err on the side of caution, global security is encouraging everyone to avoid wearing or carrying Facebook-branded items at this time,” an internal memo sent Monday, reviewed by The Information, said.
Facebook banned Trump for at least two weeks in the wake of the US Capitol siege and began removing all posts referencing the “Stop the Steal” campaign, which falsely claims that the Democrats stole the election.
The Information reported that the company’s security team posted the memo on an internal workplace board that can be accessed by more than 56,600 employees.
Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.
On Wednesday, a mob of violent pro-Trump supporters, fueled by Trump’s violent rhetoric and allegations of election fraud, breached the Capitol. Five people, including one police officer from the Capitol, died.
On that day, Trump posted a video on Facebook and Twitter telling the rioters to “go home” but did not condemn their actions. He said, “We love you; you’re very special,” Both platforms later removed the video.
Following the siege, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, said that the platform had “indefinitely” blocked Trump because “the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great.”
Zuckerberg said Facebook would ban him “for at least the next two weeks until the peaceful transition of power is complete.” On January 20, President-elect Joe Biden is due to take office.
Facebook is not the only social media platform that, following the Capitol siege, cracked down on Trump’s accounts. Twitter also did so a day after Facebook banned him, “due to the risk of further incitement of violence,” the company said.
A Snap spokesperson told Insider on Thursday, Snapchat has also ‘locked’ Trump’s account.
San Francisco police officers were preparing for a pro-Trump protest outside Twitter’s headquarters on Monday — in the end, only two people showed up.
