Meta Platforms Inc. said on Wednesday that former President Donald Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts, which were blocked just over two years ago after his supporters staged riots on Capitol Hill on January 6, 2021, will be restored in the coming months. weeks.
Trump announced in November that he would run for president again in 2024. The former head of state had 34 million Facebook followers and 23 million Instagram followers before the lockdown. These social networks are key tools for political activity and fundraising.
Meta’s corporate blog says the company has “established new barriers to prevent recurrence.”
“In the event Mr. Trump reposts material that violates the rules, that content will be removed and his account will be suspended for a period of one month to two years, depending on the severity of the violation,” Nick Clegg wrote. in a blog post. , president of global business at Meta.
The decision to block Trump on Facebook and Instagram sparked controversy over the actions of Meta, which had never before blocked the account of an outgoing head of state for breaking the rules on its own social media.
The company has indefinitely banned Trump from its Facebook and Instagram accounts after it deleted two of his posts during the Capitol Hill riots, including a video in which the ex-president repeated his false allegation of widespread fraud that resulted in Trump , in his own words, was defeated in the 2020 election.
The case of the Trump account freeze was referred to an independent Meta review panel, which ruled that the suspension was warranted, but that its indefinite temporary nature was not. In response, Meta said he would reconsider suspending Trump’s accounts two years after he launched.
A Meta blog posted on Wednesday said Trump may reactivate other accounts, including those suspended for civil unrest. The company said those recovered accounts will be subject to more rigorous review for violations.
It remains unclear if Trump will take the opportunity to return to Facebook and Instagram. In November, he regained access to Twitter, his once favorite online platform. Trump hasn’t posted any new tweets since his account on the platform was reinstated, saying he prefers to use his own Truth Social app. But a spokesperson for his campaign told Fox News Digital last week that the return to Facebook “will be an important 2024 campaign tool for reaching voters.”
In a post on Truth Social, Trump responded to the reinstatement of his Meta app accounts by saying, “This should never happen to a sitting president or anyone else who doesn’t deserve revenge again!”
Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff, who previously chaired the House Intelligence Committee, criticized the decision to reinstate the former president’s accounts.
“Trump caused the mutiny,” Schiff tweeted. “Giving him access to social media platforms to spread his lies and grandstanding is dangerous.”
