A window has opened for former President Donald Trump as it was revealed that Facebook and Instagram intend to reinstate his accounts, according to Meta, the parent company of each social media giant.
Following Trump’s involvement on January 6, 2021, insurrection, Meta handed down a two-year suspension of the former President’s accounts, a move the company described as unprecedented.
According to a company release from Wednesday (January 25), Meta indicated that it would reinstate Trump’s accounts but with a caveat that any future offenses the former President made in contravening its user guidelines would incur higher penalties.
Taking to Twitter to further explain the announcement, Meta’s President for Global Affairs, Nick Clegg, said the company first needed to determine if the risk associated with Trump’s involvement on January 6 had receded.
Clegg wrote, “Our determination is that the risk has sufficiently receded,” allowing the company to end the two-year ban.
Facebook and Instagram reinstating Trump’s accounts, follows Twitter already doing the same, under its new CEO Elon Musk, who reinstated Trump’s account as a promise that he would be a bastion of free speech.
Whether Trump will use either of the platforms is undetermined, as he took to Truth Social on Wednesday to criticize the initial decision to suspend him.
Trump claimed Facebook had lost “billions” after de-platforming him, describing himself as “your favorite President.”
Meta’s board also released a statement, saying it wasn’t involved in the decision to reinstate Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts.
