Trump is banned permanently from Facebook

Almost four months to the day following the January 6 riots at the US Capitol -- which was the catalyst for Facebook kicking him off its platform -- the social network's Supreme Court-like oversight body has voted to permanently ban President Trump from the service.

The decision was announced Wednesday morning and was all but guaranteed to be seen as unsatisfactory and widely derided, no matter the outcome. A decision that went against the president was always going to enrage conservatives who think Big Tech is aligned against them. In fact, President Trump on Tuesday launched a blog-like platform of his own, one that will allow his supporters a convenient place to see every update he posts. Meantime, letting him return to the world's biggest social network was also always going to raise the ire of the other half of the country, who will point to disinformation and untruths disseminated by the president -- and even Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's own words, when Zuckberged posted this to his followers the day after the Capitol riots: "We believe the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great. Therefore, we are extending the block we have placed on his Facebook and Instagram accounts indefinitely and for at least the next two weeks until the peaceful transition of power is complete."