Meta said Friday it was lifting restrictions on US presidential candidate Donald Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts, ending measures put in place after his supporters violently stormed the US Capitol in 2021.
It said that “former President Trump, as the nominee of the Republican Party, will no longer be subject to the heightened suspension penalties.”
Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts were suspended indefinitely a day after his supporters attacked the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, and it was determined he had praised people engaged in violence on social media.
His accounts were reinstated in February 2023 but with a threat of penalties for future breaches — an additional restriction that Meta lifted on Friday.
“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,” Meta wrote in a blog post.
It added 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, the first former president to be convicted of a crime, was also banned from Twitter and YouTube.
While those restrictions were later lifted last year, Trump now mainly communicates on his own social media platform, Truth Social.
His Facebook profile, which has 34 million users, includes messages originally published on Truth Social as well as invitations to rallies and videos from his campaign.
Three flights received bomb threats in less than 24 hours, adding to a long list…
After a fight with her husband, a woman in central China allegedly disturbed him by…
Russia said Friday that it had swapped 95 Ukrainian soldiers held captive for an equal…
Ryuta Watanabe, a 36-year-old citizen of the northern prefecture of Hokkaido, Japan, hasn't had a…
Even as the number of arrests in NCP leader Baba Siddique's murder case went up…
Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar was killed in an intelligence-based ground raid in southern Gaza. Sinwar…