Donald Trump to access Facebook, Instagram as Meta lifts 2-year ban
Following Meta’s announcement that it will lift its two-year account restriction of Donald Trump, the ex-president will be able to access Facebook and Instagram once more according to BBC.
According to the social media behemoth, the suspension will terminate “in the coming weeks.”
The public “should be able to hear what their politicians are saying,” said Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of international relations, in a statement.
Following the Capitol riot in 2021, the then-US president’s access to Facebook and Instagram was temporarily blocked.
In response to Mr. Trump’s “praise for people engaging in violence at the Capitol,” Mr. Clegg said the company had taken action.
He added, “The suspension was an extraordinary decision taken in extraordinary circumstances.”
An examination, he said, revealed that Mr. Trump’s accounts no longer posed a substantial risk to the public’s safety.
However, as a result of Mr. Trump’s prior “violations,” he would now be subject to harsher punishments for repeat offenses.
Republicans have been pushing for Mr. Trump to be permitted to return to Facebook as he gears up to run for president once more in 2024.
In response, Mr. Trump wrote on his own social media platform, ‘Truth Social’, on Wednesday that Facebook had “lost Billions” because it had barred “your favorite President, me.”
“Such a thing should never again happen to a sitting President, or anybody else who is not deserving of retribution!” he wrote.
Democrats and a few activist groups criticized the news of Mr. Trump’s reinstatement right away, expressing fear that the former president may once more use the platform to repeat false claims that he won the 2020 election.
California Democratic Representative, Adam Schiff wrote on Twitter; “Trump incited an insurrection. Giving him back access to a social media platform to spread his lies and demagoguery is dangerous.”
NAACP, a civil rights organization’s president, Derrick Johnson, told the Associated Press that he believed the action to be a “grave mistake” and “a prime example of putting profits above people’s safety.”
“It’s quite astonishing that one can spew hatred, fuel conspiracies, and incite a violent insurrection at our nation’s Capitol building, and Mark Zuckerberg still believes that is not enough to remove someone from his platforms,” he added.
Following the brawl at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, Twitter also banned the former president, claiming that he had violated its policies against glorifying violence.
Elon Musk, the owner of Twitter, announced in November that Mr. Trump’s account suspension had been lifted after a ballot in which users narrowly supported the action.
After earlier saying, “I don’t see any reason for it,” Mr. Trump is yet to return to Twitter.