Donald Trump is officially back on Facebook and Instagram
One-term president was suspended by social media company following January 6 insurrection
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump has officially had his Facebook and Instagram accounts restored by Meta after a two-year ban following the fatal January 6 US Capitol riot.
The social media giant said in January that the one-term president would have his suspension lifted “in the coming weeks” and his accounts became active again on Thursday.
Mr Trump, who has announced he is running again for the White House in 2024, now has access again to a Facebook account which in January had 34 million followers and 23 million on Instagram.
Sir Nick Clegg, the former UK deputy prime minister who is now Meta’s president for global affairs, announced in a January blog post that the company had made the decision after assessing “whether the serious risk to public safety that existed in January 2021” had “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,” he stated.
“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”.
And the former politician said that the company was adding “new guardrails” to Mr Trump’s account “to deter repeat offences”.
Specifically, he said that the former president “faces heightened penalties for repeat offences” if he violates the company’s community standards.
Those “penalties” will also be levied on “other public figures whose accounts are reinstated from suspensions related to civil unrest” in the future.
“In the event that Mr Trump posts further violating content, the content will be removed and he will be suspended for between one month and two years, depending on the severity of the violation,” he added.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments