Meta, the tech giant owned by Mark Zuckerberg, announced on Friday that it has lifted restrictions on United States presidential candidate Donald Trump’s social media accounts. This decision ends the measures put in place after Trump’s supporters violently stormed the US Capitol in 2021, according to AFP.
The announcement stated that “former President Trump, as the nominee of the Republican Party, will no longer be subject to the heightened suspension penalties.” Following the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol, Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts were suspended indefinitely due to his praise of individuals engaged in violence on social media.
In February 2023, his accounts were reinstated but came with the threat of penalties for future breaches. These additional restrictions were lifted by Meta on Friday. Meta’s blog post explained, “In assessing our responsibility to allow political expression, we believe that the American people should be able to hear from the nominees for president on the same basis.”
The company emphasized that US presidential candidates “remain subject to the same Community Standards as all Facebook and Instagram users, including those policies designed to prevent hate speech and incitement to violence.”
Trump, who is the first former president to be convicted of a crime, faced bans from X (formerly known as Twitter) and YouTube as well. Although those restrictions were lifted last year, Trump predominantly communicates via his own social media platform, Truth Social.
His Facebook profile, which boasts 34 million followers, features messages originally published on Truth Social, along with invitations to rallies and campaign videos.
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