Trump allowed back on Facebook after 2-year suspension

Facebook parent Meta reinstated Donald Trump’s personal account after a two-year suspension following the January 6 uprising.

The company said in a blog post Wednesday it has added “new guardrails” to ensure no “repeat offenders” break the rules.

“If Mr. Trump posts more infringing content, that content will be removed and he will be suspended for between one month and two years, depending on the severity of the violation,” wrote Nick Clegg, Meta’s global vice president. business.

Trump, in a post on his own social media network, blasted Facebook’s decision to suspend his account as he praised his own site, Truth Social.

“FACEBOOK, which has lost billions of dollars since” deplatforming “The favorite President, me, has announced that he will recover my account. Such a situation will not happen again to the sitting President, or to anyone who does not deserve. from retribution!” he wrote.

‘Disaster’

He was suspended on January 7, a day after the deadly 2021 uprising. Other social media companies also kicked him off their platforms, though he was recently reinstated on Twitter after Elon Musk took over the company. He has not tweeted.

Civil rights groups and others were quick to condemn Meta’s move.

“Allowing Trump back on Facebook sends a signal to other figures with a large online audience that they can break the rules without lasting consequences,” said Heidi Beirich, founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism and a member of a group called the Real Facebook Board of Trustees that has criticized the effort. the platform.

“I’m not surprised but it’s a disaster,” Beirich said. “Facebook created a loophole for Trump that he did. He caused an uprising on Facebook. And now he’s back.”

Clegg said that because of the previous offense, Trump now faces a higher penalty for repeat offenses. The punishment “will be applied to other public figures whose accounts are restored from suspension related to civil unrest according to the updated protocol.”

If Trump – or anyone else – posts material that doesn’t violate Facebook’s rules but is dangerous and could lead to events such as the January 6 uprising, Meta said it won’t remove it but will limit its reach. This includes praising the QAnon conspiracy theory or trying to delegitimize the upcoming election.

Meta said Trump’s account will be restored in the coming weeks on Facebook and on Instagram.

Banned from mainstream social media, Trump has relied on his own, smaller site, Truth Social, which he launched after being blocked from Twitter.