Meta said it will reinstate Donald Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts in the coming weeks — two years after he was suspended from the platforms for violating its rules about inciting violence — with “new guardrails in place to deter repeat offenses.”
“The public should be able to hear what their politicians are saying — the good, the bad and the ugly — so that they can make informed choices at the ballot box,” Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of global affairs, said in a blog post announcing the decision. “But that does not mean there are no limits to what people can say on our platform.”
On Jan. 7, 2021, the social media giant indefinitely froze Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts with CEO Mark Zuckerberg citing the risk of ongoing violence if the then-president were allowed to remain on the services. Trump had praised rioters who engaged in violence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 in posts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. “We love you, you’re very special,” Trump said in the video clip he shared that day. “I know your pain, I know you’re hurt. We had an election that was stolen from us.”
In June 2021, Meta (whose corporate name was Facebook at the time) said it would suspend Trump until at least January 2023 and would reinstate his accounts “if conditions permit.” Trump, who has repeatedly and falsely claimed he won the 2020 election, says he’s seeking the Republican nomination for the 2024 presidential election.
“Like any other Facebook or Instagram user, Mr. Trump is subject to our Community Standards,” Clegg wrote in the post Tuesday. “In light of his violations, he now also faces heightened penalties for repeat offenses — penalties which will apply to other public figures whose accounts are reinstated from suspensions related to civil unrest under our updated protocol. In the event that Mr. Trump posts further violating content, the content will be removed and he will be suspended for between one month and two years, depending on the severity of the violation.”
In the wake of the Jan. 6 attack, Trump had been kicked off numerous internet platforms. Last November, mega-billionaire Elon Musk reinstated Trump’s Twitter account shortly after Musk closed the acquisition of the social network. To date, the ex-president has not resumed posting from the Twitter account.
(Excerpt) Read more in: Variety