- Meta announced plans to remove January 6th-era restrictions from Donald Trump’s accounts.
- Trump has been banned and then reinstated on Facebook and Instagram Meta as well as X and YouTube.
- Even though his old social media accounts are now unrestricted, Trump continues to use Truth Social.
Donald Trump’s social media accounts have returned to their pre-Capitol riot status.
Meta on Friday announced plans to remove a more severe suspension penalty from the former president’s account. The restriction, which increases the penalty for rule violations to include automatic re-suspension of his account, was put in place when Meta first reactivated his account in January 2023 after a two-year suspension.
The social media giant initially banned Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts “after he praised those involved in the violence at the Capitol on January 6.”
“With the party conventions coming up, including the Republican convention next week, the candidates for President of the United States will soon be formally nominated,” Meta wrote in a press release about its decision. “In assessing our responsibility to permit political expression, we believe that the American people should be able to hear from the candidates for President on an equal basis.”
The statement said the penalty was deemed a “response to extreme and extraordinary circumstances” and was ultimately never necessary because Trump no longer violated the platform’s terms after he returned to office.
The lifting of restrictions on Trump’s account comes days after Trump threatened Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg with prison if he is re-elected, escalating their years-long public feud.
When reached by Business Insider for comment, a Meta spokesperson declined to answer specific questions about the timing and reasoning behind the decision or whether there were any other restrictions on the former president’s social media accounts.
President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign has issued a scathing response to Meta, calling it a “greedy and reckless decision” on the company’s part and warning against “undemocratic and un-American misinformation” from Trump and MAGA Republicans.
“Restoring his access is like giving your car keys to someone you know is going to drive your car into a crowd and off a cliff,” campaign spokesman Charles Lutvak said in a statement to Business Insider. “It’s like holding a bullhorn for a true racist who will shout his hatred and white supremacy from rooftops and try to make it mainstream. There’s no doubt that’s a direct attack on our safety and our democracy.”
Meta appears to be the last major social media platform to lift the latest restrictions on Trump’s accounts that were put in place on January 6. Trump was initially banned from using Meta, X (formerly Twitter) and Google-owned YouTube platforms in the days after the Capitol riot.
After Elon Musk bought Twitter, he reactivated Trump’s account in November 2022. Meta reactivated his Facebook and Instagram accounts in January 2023 with restrictions that have now been lifted — and YouTube gave Trump his channel back in March of that year.
Although his old social media accounts are now unrestricted and have tens of millions of followers, Trump still maintains his own company, Truth Social.
After being removed from the main site, Trump founded an alternative social networking site and has used it as his primary platform since its launch in February 2022.
Truth Social went public in March, initially boosting Trump’s net worth by billions of dollars, but the company has faced financial difficulties and volatile stock prices following SEC disclosures that revealed major losses.
Trump campaign representatives did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s request for comment.
