Facebook will remove all posts about the 'Stop the Steal' campaign, whose supporters believe Trump's unfounded claims that the 2020 election was fraudulent
- Facebook said it is removing all content that references the "Stop the Steal" campaign, which peddles the unfounded claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from President Trump.
- The move comes after Facebook suspended Trump following last week's siege on the US Capitol, during which the president used the platform, along with Twitter, to spout more false claims surrounding the election.
- Twitter has permanently banned the president from its platform.
- The riot at the Capitol has set off a ripple effect as world leaders condemn the violent attempted coup and as internet platforms at-large react to potentially violent far-right Trump supporters.
Facebook said on Monday that it is removing all posts that reference the "Stop the Steal" campaign, according to a company blog post. The Wall Street Journal first reported the news.
The move comes after Facebook banned Trump until the end of his presidency and after Twitter permanently suspended President Trump following last week's siege on the US Capitol.
Facebook did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
President Trump has been peddling unfounded claims that it was he and not President-elect Joe Biden who won the 2020 presidential election and that the election was stolen from him. A Facebook group called "Stop the Steal" was created in November and quickly accumulated 365,000 members, some of whom made "worrying calls for violence," before the company removed it.
On January 6, Trump spoke at a rally on the US Capitol grounds in which he once again peddled baseless claims of election fraud to thousands of riled up supporters. Hundreds of them later violently breached the federal building and vandalized its halls while lawmakers worked to certify the election results. Five people were killed, lawmakers and Vice President Mike Pence were evacuated, and the incident drew criticism from around the world as many called it an attempted coup.
"The United States stands for democracy around the world and it is now vital that there should be a peaceful and orderly transfer of power," British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said.
There is no evidence that the 2020 presidential election was fraudulent, and the Electoral College confirmed in December that Trump indeed lost and that Biden would be sworn in on January 20. Congress confirmed President-elect Joe Biden's win shortly after the Capitol was secured following the siege.
After the attack on the Capitol, an ongoing conversation was stoked around the role social media platforms played in giving the rioters a place to congregate in the weeks before. During the siege, Trump used Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to continue spouting baseless claims surround the integrity of the election, prompting these companies to take action.