Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has announced plans to
end the suspension on the accounts of Donald Trump, former US president.
This is coming two months after Twitter reinstated Trump’s
account.
In January 2021, Facebook and Twitter banned Trump
indefinitely, with other social media platforms like YouTube and Instagram
taking similar actions against him.
Facebook reviewed its decision in June and suspended the
former president’s account for two years.
The social media’s sanction had come after Trump used his
accounts to mobilise his supporters to invade the US Capitol building,
disrupting the January 6 joint session of congress to certify Joe Biden’s
victory in the November 3 election.
At least four people were killed during a face-off between
protesters and security operatives during the invasion.
In a statement on Wednesday, Nick Clegg, president, global
affairs, Meta, said the company would be ending the suspension on Trump’s
Facebook and Instagram accounts in the coming weeks.
According to Clegg, the company believes that the public
should be able to hear what politicians are saying so they can make informed
choices.
He added that new guardrails have been put in place to deter
repeat offenses.
“Social media is rooted in the belief that open debate and
the free flow of ideas are important values, especially at a time when they are
under threat in many places around the world,” the statement reads.
“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. But that does
not mean there are no limits to what people can say on our platform. When there
is a clear risk of real-world harm, a deliberately high bar for Meta to
intervene in public discourse, we act.
“The normal state of affairs is that the public should be
able to hear from a former President of the United States, and a declared
candidate for that office again, on our platforms.
“Now that the time period of the suspension has elapsed, the
question is not whether we choose to reinstate Mr. Trump’s accounts, but
whether there remain such extraordinary circumstances that extending the
suspension beyond the original two-year period is justified.
“To assess whether the serious risk to public safety that existed
in January 2021 has sufficiently receded, we have evaluated the current
environment according to our crisis policy protocol, which included looking at
the conduct of the US 2022 midterm elections, and expert assessments on the
current security environment.
“Our determination is
that the risk has sufficiently receded, and that we should therefore adhere to
the two-year timeline we set out. As such, we will be reinstating Mr. Trump’s
Facebook and Instagram accounts in the coming weeks. However, we are doing so
with new guardrails in place to deter repeat offenses.
“In light of his violations, he (Trump) now also faces
heightened penalties for repeat offenses — penalties which will apply to other
public figures whose accounts are reinstated from suspensions related to civil
unrest under our updated protocol.”
Last year, Trump announced his candidacy for the president
of the United States in next year’s election.
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