iWorld
Donald Trump barred from Facebook ‘indefinitely’
NEW DELHI: Facebook has indefinitely banned US president Donald Trump from its platform after he tried to incite violence at the US Capitol earlier this week.
Mincing no words, a far cry from the social media giant’s prior treatment of Trump with kid gloves, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated that the president intends to use his remaining time in office to undermine the peaceful and lawful transition of power to his elected successor, Joe Biden.
“We believe the risks of allowing the president to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great,” he wrote in a community post. As a result, he said, Facebook and its photo-sharing site Instagram would extend blocks on Trump’s ability to post “until the peaceful transition of power is complete.”
The shocking events of the last 24 hours clearly demonstrate that President Donald Trump intends to use his remaining…
Posted by Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday, 7 January 2021
Trump is also banned from using Instagram.
Earlier in the day, when Trump made false claims about election fraud and the legitimacy of the next US president Joe Biden, nearly all social media platforms – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat — locked his account for a brief period. Facebook imposed a ban for 24 hours and Twitter for 12 hours. The latter also asked the US president to remove three tweets for severe violation of its civic integrity policy, and failing to do so would lead to permanent suspension of his account.
Trump’s Twitter account had been unlocked at the time of filing this report.
The diverging actions showed how social media companies were still grappling with how to moderate one of their most powerful and popular users. Trump has routinely used his online mouthpieces to attack others, rile up supporters and disseminate disinformation, and these social media platforms had offered platitudes of “upholding free speech” to defend their inaction in the matter of not curtailing such provocative posts.
YouTube had also removed the video where Trump told his supporters who had broken into the Capitol ‘I love you’ and described the agitators as patriots. The platform also cited that the video violated its policies.
The march was partly organised online, including on Facebook groups and pages. Facebook has mentioned that it was looking for and removing content that had incited or supported the storming of Capitol Hill. The violence at the US Capitol led to the death on one person and several injured.
iWorld
T20 World Cup ’26: India–England semi-final sets global streaming record of 619 million views on JioHotstar
India–England semi-final records 65.2 million peak streams
MUMBAI: The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 set a new milestone in global sports streaming, as the India–England semi-final drew record digital audiences on JioHotstar.
The match on 5 March registered 65.2 million peak concurrent viewers, the highest ever recorded for a live event on any streaming platform worldwide. The semi-final also generated 619 million views, making it the most streamed T20 international match in history.
The landmark audience numbers were driven largely by viewers in India, setting a record achieved within a single market, rather than through aggregated viewership across multiple countries.
The high-scoring encounter between India national cricket team and England cricket team produced 499 runs across both innings, fuelling widespread fan engagement across platforms.
According to the International Cricket Council, the digital record surpassed the previous global benchmark of 65 million concurrent viewers, set in November 2024 by another international streaming platform.
Across television and digital platforms combined, the semi-final reached more than 320 million viewers, while total watch time exceeded 23 billion minutes, making it the most watched T20 international match ever.
“This World Cup demonstrates the immense passion of cricket fans and the progress made in bringing the game closer to audiences worldwide,” said ICC chairman Jay Shah.
“This moment reflects the scale of cricket fandom in India and the technological capability required to serve hundreds of millions of viewers simultaneously.”
JioStar vice-chairman Uday Shankar, said the audience surge underscored the future of large-scale digital entertainment.
“One in every three Indians tuned in to watch the second semi-final. Delivering such an experience at scale requires the very best of technology,” he said.
The 619 million views during the match also eclipsed the 533 million views recorded during the final of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.
With the final yet to be played, the 2026 tournament has already set multiple benchmarks in audience reach and digital engagement.
India will face the New Zealand national cricket team in the final on 8 March at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The match will be broadcast on the Star Sports Network and streamed on JioHotstar.
