America: Former US President Donald Trump has returned to Facebook and Instagram after two years. Meta Platforms Inc. has restored Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts. Facebook banned Donald Trump’s account two years ago. After the account is restored, now Trump will once again be able to keep his point or reaction on social media.
Facebook, Twitter and Google-owned YouTube all made the remarkable decision to block the sitting U.S. president from their platforms. At the time, after they decided to do so overpowered the risk of a probable further push to violence.
The platforms’ moves changed in their degrees. However, Twitter opted for a permanent ban and Facebook. They said this suspension was temporary. Eventually, setting a timeline of two years before it reviewed the decision.
Setting the two-year suspension
Platforms like Facebook and Twitter earlier removed or labelled certain posts of the former president. They believed it to be harmful before ultimately choosing to block his account.
On the evening of Jan. 6, 2021, Facebook said that “two policy violations” on Trump’s page would trigger a 24-hour block on its platforms. The next day, the company said in a statement that it felt “the risks of allowing President Trump to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great,”. Also said that the ban would last “for at least the next two weeks,” through the inauguration.
Trump’s FB and Instagram Restored
Meta has restored former US President Donald Trump’s access to Facebook and Instagram. Meta spokesperson Andy Stone gave information in this regard on Thursday (February 9).
On January 6, 2021, after the Capitol Hill riots, Donald Trump was banned for two years. Meta said in January that the ban on Trump’s Facebook and Instagram would be lifted in the coming weeks.
Although Meta also warned that if the former President violates the rules again, the suspension can be extended. Donald Trump claimed in his post that there was massive voting rigging during the 2020 presidential election. It was only after this that Facebook banned Trump’s account on charges of inciting Capitol Hill violence.
Apart from Facebook-Instagram, Twitter also took action against Donald Trump and banned him. Trump’s account was later reinstated after Twitter was acquired by Elon Musk. However, he has not tweeted yet. As of January, former US President Donald Trump had 23 million followers on Instagram and 34 million followers on Facebook.
Trump reacts
Being banned from almost all major social media platforms. Until recently, Trump has been posting his statements on Truth Social, a platform that he helped found and his company owns.
In response to Meta’s announcement, Trump posted on Truth Social. He is using his usual idiosyncratic punctuation and capitalization.
Trump has about 34 million followers on Facebook and more than 23 million followers on Instagram.
The Reinstatement Comes With Conditions…
Last month, Meta declared that it would allow Donald Trump to return to Facebook and Instagram in the coming weeks. However, the company also mentioned that in case the former president violates any content policies, his account will be subject to extra suspensions.
Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of global affairs, wrote in a blog post on Jan. 25, 2023: “As a general rule, we don’t want to get in the way of open, public and democratic debate on Meta’s platforms — especially in the context of elections in democratic societies like the United States. 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.”
