Meta announced Wednesday night that “Trump’s accounts have been suspended” on Facebook and Instagram. More than two years have passed since the former president was banned from platforms for his role in fomenting the riots and the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021. The politician’s Twitter page was unblocked in November 2022, at the behest of Elon Musk, the new owner of the social network, who recently declared himself a Republican and urged people to vote for the party.

What is known about the return to Facebook

The announcement of Trump’s reinstatement came a week after the incident. the ex-president’s team sent a letter with the relevant requirements. He states that blocking the ex-president’s account “greatly distorts and suppresses public discourse,” so that as a presidential candidate he should be able to rank on social networks on an equal footing with other candidates.

Nick Clegg, Head of Global Business at Meta, said: The company no longer believes Trump’s account poses the same “serious risk to public safety”, as when they first suspended him in January 2021. At the same time, the administration is aware that the decision will be “strongly criticized” by the public.

We do not want to hinder open discussion on our platforms, especially in the context of democratic elections. People need to be able to hear what politicians have to say – the good, the bad and the ugly – in order to make an informed choice at the ballot box. Now that Trump’s 2-year suspension has passed, the question is: By January 2021, the serious risk to public safety has diminished enough to allow the shutdown to end.
– writes on twitter Nick Clegg.

The social network does not announce a specific day when it will lift the ban on pages with a total of 58 million followers, including 35 million on Facebook and 23 million on Instagram. However, he says Trump’s recovery will come with some caveats and limitations.

• will be introduced increased penalties for any violation of community standards.
• Now, when Trump posts content that violates the rules, Meta will remove it and block the account for a period of one month to two years, depending on the severity of the posted content.
• As for other content that doesn’t technically break the rules but could be seen as contributing to a repeat of the events of January 6, Meta says this could limit the distribution of Trump’s posts. ‘does not end in other users’ news feeds.
• Also, in such cases, the former president’s access to advertising tools may be temporarily restricted.

Trump on Twitter

As for Twitter, Donald Trump had previously said he wouldn’t return to the social network even if he was unblocked, and didn’t post when it happened in November. The same has been repeatedly confirmed by some of his partners.

It also turned out that the politician has a contract with his own social network, which he completely launched in February 2022. The deal requires it Post it to Truth Social first. Similar posts may appear on other platforms no later than six hours later.. However, it is understood that these obligations do not prevent them from using other platforms.

Two sources told Rolling Stone that Trump told several people close to him last year that he did not want to continue the exclusivity agreement. The 18-month deadline for this requirement ends in June, exactly when the Republican primaries begin.

It’s unlikely that Donald Trump will stop using Truth Social, that’s pretty clear. Here it is does not comply with any controls and rules because it is the owner of the social network and amassed a completely loyal audience.

Given the letter sent to Meta requesting the unblocking, it can be assumed that Elon Musk will receive a similar letter if Trump is still blocked on Twitter. Although there are no rumors or leaks from sources, it can be expected that Trump will not miss the opportunity to address the audience on Twitter and return, albeit for the election campaign period.