Meta will restore Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts within weeks. If the former US president violates the company’s content policy again, his accounts will be banned for a period of one month to a year — “depending on the severity of the violation.”
“In general, we do not want to impede open, public and democratic debate on Meta platforms – especially in the context of elections in democratic societies such as the United States. The public should be able to hear what their politicians have to say – good, bad or terrible – so they can make an informed choice when they vote,” said a message published on the Meta blog on Wednesday.
In light of the announcement, Meta updated its policy for content that does not clearly violate its rules but may encourage harmful or violent behavior (such as calls for an attack on the Capitol on January 6). If such content is discovered in the future, its distribution will be limited – that is, reposting will be prohibited. Meta may also limit an account’s access to promotional tools.
Ending Suspension of Trump’s Accounts With New Guardrails to Deter Repeat Offenses
— Meta Newsroom (@MetaNewsroom) January 25, 2023
After the deadly attack on the Capitol on January 6, two years ago, Trump was banned from Facebook and Instagram. Mark Zuckerberg said that the ex-president was removed “for provoking violence and praising the actions of the rebels.” Meta was one of the first platforms to ban Donald Trump, effectively removing all of his accounts from major social media services.
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The ban was initially imposed indefinitely, but Meta later revised the decision following guidance from its supervisory board (an internal group of experts advising the company on content moderation). The board argued that an indefinite ban was inappropriate and called on Meta to draft a new policy to regulate harmful statements by public figures.
In June 2021, Nick Clegg, Meta’s vice president of global policy, announced that Trump’s removal would last for two years, and the company would decide whether to reinstate his accounts once “the risk to public safety has diminished.” In the same June announcement, Clegg said the company would implement “a strict set of sanctions that will be put into effect if Mr. Trump violates the policy again in the future, up to and including the complete removal of his pages and accounts.”
Trump’s Twitter account was reinstated last November. After buying the company, Elon Musk held a Twitter poll on whether to allow the former president to return to the site. Trump has yet to officially return to Twitter and continues to use his Truth Social platform as his primary means of communication.
“FACEBOOK, which lost billions of dollars after blocking your favorite president, just announced that they are restoring my account. THANK YOU TRUTH SOCIAL FOR SUCH AN INCREDIBLE JOB,” Trump wrote after the news of the unblocking.
The reinstatement of the account comes months after Trump officially announced he would run for re-election in 2024. During the 2016 and 2020 campaigns, his team spent millions of dollars on Facebook and Instagram ads alone. In 2019, Twitter banned advertising on its platform.
Earlier this month, representatives of Trump’s 2024 campaign team asked Meta to unblock the former president’s accounts.
“We believe that the banning of President Trump’s Facebook account has dramatically distorted and inhibited public discourse,” their letter reads.
Pending Meta’s decision, two Democratic lawmakers urged the company in a December letter to continue blocking Trump. Congressman Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol, wrote:
“In order for Meta to reliably support legitimate election integrity policies, it is important that the ban on former President Trump continues.”
Almost a year after banning access to Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, Trump launched his own social media platform in February 2022. At the time of publication, Trump had amassed more than 4.5 million followers on Truth Social, compared to 34 million on Facebook and 90 million on Twitter before the block.
Source: The Verge
