Washington: Facebook Inc suspended former U.S. President Donald Trump’s account from its platform until at least January 2023 on Friday. Facebook announced changes to how it will treat rule breaking world leaders in the future.

Trump called the Facebook suspension an insult to Americans who voted for him. The suspension which will last at least two years from January 7 when he was initially blocked after the Capitol riot, will only be lifted if the risk to public safety has receded, Facebook said.

This new timeline denies Trump a major social media megaphone ahead of the November 2022 national midterm elections, when his party will be competing for Congressional seats. However, it means he may be able to return to Facebook well before the next presidential election in late 2024.

Trump has been permanently banned by Twitter and remains suspended by Alphabet’s YouTube after the riot. Facebook Global Affairs Head Nick Clegg said in the post given the gravity of the circumstances that led to 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.

US former President Donald Trump said in a statement Friday, Facebook’s ruling is an insult to the record-setting 75M people, plus many others, who voted for us in the 2020 Rigged Presidential Election. They shouldn’t be allowed to get away with this censoring and silencing, and ultimately, we will win.

Our Country can’t take this abuse anymore! Facebook said that there would be a set of escalating sanctions that would be triggered if Trump broke further rules that could lead to his permanent removal.