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| Meta is preparing to make an important decision about Trump return to Facebook |
Meta is preparing to make a decision to allow former US President Donald Trump to return to the Facebook and Instagram platforms, which is expected to lead to an increase in polarization on the ground.
After a group of Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol in January 2021, Trump's social media account was suspended for allegedly inciting violence after he questioned the 2020 US election that led to his rival Joe's victory. .
Trump won the White House in 2016 because of his popularity on social media and then used it at every opportunity to gain his supporters.
Meta, which has a market capitalization of $300 billion, said earlier that it has until January 7, 2023 to decide whether or not to allow the former president to return to Facebook and Instagram.
And now the Financial Times, citing a source familiar with the deliberations, said the decision could be delayed until later this month.
The fate of Trump, who is trying to return to the White House in the US presidential elections scheduled for 2024, is seen as the toughest test for Nick Clegg, head of global affairs at META, who previously served as deputy British prime minister.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who previously took the final call for moderation, now focuses on the product and his ambitious vision for Metaverse, while remaining available as CEO, managing director, and controlling shareholder.
According to the British Financial Times, people familiar with the matter said that the company has set up a working group to look into the problem. The group includes members from the Public Policy and Communications team, as well as the Content Policy team led by Monica Bickert and the Security and Integrity team led by Jay Rosen.
Last October, at a meeting of the Meta hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations, Clegg said he believed that no matter what people think of Donald Trump, any private company should be careful when it comes to silencing political voices.
Experts say Trump's continued ban from the platform will stoke tensions with the former US president's Republican allies, who accuse the company of censoring conservative views, while other left-wing groups say it is not a responsible responsibility to allow him to return to a platform harmful to democracy.
Previously, Elon Musk, the new owner of the Twitter platform, lifted the permanent ban imposed by Trump on his platform last November after polling users, but the former US president has not talked about announcing the platform since the lifting.
As for Trump, he is currently content with publishing his news on the social network Truth Social, which he created and controls to give him a platform after he was denied access to his supporters through other networks.