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| Meta decided to restore Trump's Facebook and Instagram accounts |
Meta announced, on Wednesday, plans to lift the ban imposed on the accounts of former US President Donald Trump on two social networking sites, Facebook and Instagram, in a move that sparked controversy between supporters and opponents.
The US tech giant said in a blog post that the ban will be lifted in the coming weeks. If Trump violates the Meta content policy again, his account will be suspended for an additional month or two, depending on the severity of the violation.
“In general, we don't want to be a barrier to open and democratic discussion on the Meta platform, particularly in the context of elections in a democratic society like the United States,” said Nick Clegg, Meta's global vice president. Work said Wed. He added, "The public should be able to hear what politicians have to say, the good, the bad and the ugly, so they can make an informed decision at the ballot box."
As part of Wednesday's announcement, the Meta updated its policy on content that doesn't specifically contravene its rules but could incite violent or harmful acts like the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol. Meta Limit Distribution said it found people posting such content by blocking users from sharing the post. The Company may also restrict account access to promotional tools.
Trump's Facebook and Instagram accounts were reportedly suspended after attacks from Trump supporters who rejected the results of the 2020 presidential election that led to Joe Biden's victory. At the time, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Trump had been suspended for inciting violence and praising his supporters' unrest.
Meta was one of the first platforms to ban the former president, and nearly all of his accounts have been removed from major social media services.
Originally, Meta Trump banned it indefinitely, but the company later revised that decision after receiving advice from the Oversight Board, the company's own group of experts that advises on decisions to moderate content on the company's platform.
The committee decided that an indefinite ban was not appropriate and asked the Meta to develop new policies to deal with harmful speech by public figures. And in June 2021, Clegg announced that Trump's suspension would last for two years and that the company would decide to reinstate the account once "the threat to public safety has receded."
In the same post, Clegg said the company would apply "a hard and fast series of escalating penalties that will be triggered in the event of any further violations by Mr. Trump," including the permanent deletion of his pages and accounts.
Responding to the meta-advertisement on Wednesday, Trump said on his Truth Social network, "Facebook has lost billions of dollars since your favorite boss banned me, and just announced they're going to take my account back." He added, “Thank you (Truth Social) for such a great job.”