WASHINGTON -House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer applauded Facebook Inc's decision to maintain its suspension of Donald Trump after the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, saying it has the right to refuse to be a medium for the former Republican president.

"I applaud that decision. Facebook is not the public square," Hoyer said in a Washington Post live interview.

The former president incited the deadly rioting at the U.S. Capitol by his supporters and continues to falsely claim that the 2020 presidential election won by Democratic President Joe Biden was flawed, Hoyer said.

Facebook's decision says they do not want to be an organ for somebody who incited an insurrection, he said.

"So they've made a determination and they don't want to be an avenue to convey that, through their medium, and I think they have the right to do that," Hoyer said.

Hoyer said the impact of social media and the tech companies has drawn a lot of interest on Capitol Hill and lawmakers plan to review outdated regulations governing them. "We're going to look at that closely," he said.

  - Reuters