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"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

"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." At some point Facebook is going to have to take a stand on which one it is. Indefinitely or for the next two weeks.

ttul 6y ago
Imagine the advertising revenue they earn from all the Trump loyalists using their platform. Blocking Trump is always done with an eye to maintaining that revenue in the long term. FB does not want to lose Trump supporters to a rival.
pjc50 6y ago
Two weeks, but it'll feel like forever. (More seriously, they'll wait until the dust has settled; they're hedging against the possibility of the peaceful transition of power not happening)
aqme28 6y ago
That's exactly what indefinitely means-- they haven't publicly decided when.
picks_at_nits 6y ago
Consider this a specification for a date range defining when his account will be restored. Now we can parse the statement as follows: 1. Indefinitely: The date range has no end. 2. And for at least two weeks: The beginning of the date range is at least two weeks away. From this, I conclude that Mr. Trump's account will be muted for at least two weeks, and thereafter it could be un-muted at any time, but possibly the heat death of the universe may make the whole thing moot at some point.
nightcracker 6y ago
What? They're just saying the ban is for 2+x weeks where x is an as of yet (publicly) unknown positive number. You're posing a false dichotomy.
vidarh 6y ago
"indefinite" just means there's no certain/specific/decided end. It does not mean "permanently", though it's often used to imply that without saying it outright. So in this case they're saying "anything from two weeks and up, with no decided end".
cosmie 6y ago
Those aren't conflicting positions; indefinitely can mean both "unspecified/undetermined" or "unlimited/forever" amounts of time. So you can interpret that statement as "we are extending the block we have placed on his Facebook and Instagram accounts for at least the next two weeks, but potentially longer."
deleted 6y ago
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Footkerchief 6y ago
Definite lower bound, indefinite upper bound.
mofeien 6y ago
"indefinitely" vs. "infinitely", but it took me a second to notice the difference as well.
andrewclunn 6y ago
It's just 2 weeks. You know, like the lock down to help contain the spread of...
ehnto 6y ago
The platform clearly wields significant soft power, and that should probably be acknowledged. They are laying some of their cards bare here, but what I find funny is that if the president doesn't use Twitter, Instagram or Facebook as the dominant way to promote their message, they're not under the thumb of those platforms either. Just like ordinary people aren't under the influence of social medias manipulation (intentional or not) if they just don't use the platform. We all willingly hand over that power to the platforms.
joshspankit 6y ago
Agreeing that the connotation of “indefinitely” is “permanently”; They are in a real sense permanently banning “President Trump”

ttul 6y ago

Imagine the advertising revenue they earn from all the Trump loyalists using their platform. Blocking Trump is always done with an eye to maintaining that revenue in the long term. FB does not want to lose Trump supporters to a rival.

pjc50 6y ago

Two weeks, but it'll feel like forever. (More seriously, they'll wait until the dust has settled; they're hedging against the possibility of the peaceful transition of power not happening)

aqme28 6y ago

That's exactly what indefinitely means-- they haven't publicly decided when.

picks_at_nits 6y ago

Consider this a specification for a date range defining when his account will be restored. Now we can parse the statement as follows: 1. Indefinitely: The date range has no end. 2. And for at least two weeks: The beginning of the date range is at least two weeks away. From this, I conclude that Mr. Trump's account will be muted for at least two weeks, and thereafter it could be un-muted at any time, but possibly the heat death of the universe may make the whole thing moot at some point.

nightcracker 6y ago

What? They're just saying the ban is for 2+x weeks where x is an as of yet (publicly) unknown positive number. You're posing a false dichotomy.

vidarh 6y ago

"indefinite" just means there's no certain/specific/decided end. It does not mean "permanently", though it's often used to imply that without saying it outright. So in this case they're saying "anything from two weeks and up, with no decided end".

cosmie 6y ago

Those aren't conflicting positions; indefinitely can mean both "unspecified/undetermined" or "unlimited/forever" amounts of time. So you can interpret that statement as "we are extending the block we have placed on his Facebook and Instagram accounts for at least the next two weeks, but potentially longer."

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

Footkerchief 6y ago

Definite lower bound, indefinite upper bound.

mofeien 6y ago

"indefinitely" vs. "infinitely", but it took me a second to notice the difference as well.

andrewclunn 6y ago

It's just 2 weeks. You know, like the lock down to help contain the spread of...

ehnto 6y ago

The platform clearly wields significant soft power, and that should probably be acknowledged. They are laying some of their cards bare here, but what I find funny is that if the president doesn't use Twitter, Instagram or Facebook as the dominant way to promote their message, they're not under the thumb of those platforms either. Just like ordinary people aren't under the influence of social medias manipulation (intentional or not) if they just don't use the platform. We all willingly hand over that power to the platforms.

joshspankit 6y ago

Agreeing that the connotation of “indefinitely” is “permanently”; They are in a real sense permanently banning “President Trump”