Sacha Baron Cohen Says Trump Ban 'Most Important Moment In History Of Social Media'

Sacha Baron Cohen has hailed Donald Trump's ban from Twitter, Facebook and Instagram as the 'most important moment in the history of social media'.

The comedian has long campaigned for the companies to take this action, with the 'incitement of violence' at the Capitol building proving to be the final straw.

PA

Celebrating the news that the President of the United States had been issued with a permanent ban, Baron Cohen said: "This is the most important moment in the history of social media.

"The world's largest platforms have banned the world's biggest purveyor of lies, conspiracies and hate."

Prior to the announcement that Twitter had permanently banned Trump, Baron Cohen called on the company's CEO Jack Dorsey to '#BanTrumpSaveDemocracy'.

He tweeted: "5 people are dead because of Trump's election lies--lies you helped spread!

"How many more have to die before you ban Trump from Twitter?!

"Today, civil rights groups are calling on you to do the right thing!"

Trump received a 12-hour ban after the events in Washington DC on Wednesday, but yesterday (Friday) Twitter removed him for good.

The official Twitter Safety account wrote: "After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence.

"In the context of horrific events this week, we made it clear on Wednesday that additional violations of the Twitter Rules would potentially result in this very course of action.

"Our public interest framework exists to enable the public to hear from elected officials and world leaders directly. It is built on a principle that the people have a right to hold power to account in the open.

"However, we made it clear going back years that these accounts are not above our rules and cannot use Twitter to incite violence. We will continue to be transparent around our policies and their enforcement."

PA

It comes after Mark Zuckerberg announced that Trump would be banned from Facebook and Instagram 'indefinitely'.

Zuckerberg said: "Over the last several years, we have allowed President Trump to use our platform consistent with our own rules, at times removing content or labelling his posts when they violate our policies.

"We did this because we believe that the public has a right to the broadest possible access to political speech, even controversial speech. But the current context is now fundamentally different, involving use of our platform to incite violent insurrection against a democratically elected government.

"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."

Topics: Instagram, World News, Sacha Baron Cohen, Social Media, Facebook, Twitter, Donald Trump

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey