Smartphone screen with facebook and instagram apps. Source : Brett Jordan via Pexels
Former US President Donald Trump is to have his accounts restored on Facebook and Instagram after two years.
When the US Capitol riots occurred on January 6, 2021, Meta banned Mr Trump’s accounts on their platforms, which lasted for two years.
Meta’s President of Global Affairs Nick Clegg said Mr Trump’s accounts were to be reinstated as they were “no longer a threat”, however measures were to be implemented into the platforms to deter consistent violations to the platforms’ terms and conditions.
“Like any other Facebook or Instagram user, Mr Trump is subject to our Community standards.” Mr Clegg said in a post on Wednesday.
“In light of his violations, he now also faces heightened penalties for repeat offences.
“In the event that Mr Trump posts further violating content, the content will be removed and he will be suspended for between one month and two years, depending on the severity of the violation.” He said.
This comes after Mr Trump’s Twitter account was reinstated in November 2022, which he has yet to post on, instead preferring his own platform, Truth.
In a post to Twitter, Mr Clegg said Meta does not wish to censor anyone and instead encourages debate.
“As a general rule, we don’t want to get in the way of open debate on our platforms, [especially] in context of democratic elections.” Mr Clegg said.
“People should be able to hear what politicians are saying – good, bad, [and] ugly – to make informed choices at the ballot box.
“Now Trump’s 2-year suspension has elapsed, the question is whether the serious risk to public safety that existed in January 2021 has receded enough to allow the suspension to expire.
“To assess the risk, we evaluated current circumstances according to our Crisis Policy Protocol…looking at conduct of 2022 midterms [and] expert assessment of security environment.
“We know any decision we make on this will be fiercely criticised.” He said.
People were quick to comment on Mr Clegg’s post and decision about reinstating Mr Trump, criticising the move and drawing parallels with other incidents.
Film director Stuart Hazeldine said this decision was comparable to saying Adolf Hitler had an important platform.
“Great to hear, Nick.” Mr Hazeldine said.
“Question for you: Given Adolf Hitlet contested and won democratic elections, would you say it’s important to platform what he was saying?
“Yeah, I thought not.” He said.
Chief marketing officer at WellAir Kieran Hannon said the decision should not have been made.
“Nope, never – not only inviting an insurrection but creating [a] horrifying increase in hate crimes alone should keep him banned for life.” Mr Hannon said.
“Ps: you have no values when this is allowed.” He added.
