Following last week"s riot in the U.S. Capitol, Facebook has announced today that it is pausing donations to political action committees (PACs) at least through Q1 2021. It may be noted that this does not mean Facebook will halt all political spending since the announcement pertains to PAC contributions. In addition to this, Facebook is launching an internal review of its political spending practices.
In a statement given to The Verge, Danial Robert, a spokesperson for Facebook, stated:
"Following last week’s awful violence in DC, we are pausing all of our PAC contributions for at least the current quarter, while we review our policies."
Facebook is the latest firm to join a group of private companies halting political contributions, which include JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, and Goldman Sachs. Similarly, Microsoft is also pausing its political contributions “until after it assesses the implications of last week’s events.” A spokesperson for the Redmond firm said:
“The PAC regularly pauses its donations in the first quarter of a new Congress, but it will take additional steps this year to consider these recent events and consult with employees."
The freezing of political contribution follows violent events that unfolded in Washington DC last week after which both Facebook and Twitter permanently banned U.S. President Donald Trump.