Meta announced on Friday that it has lifted previous restrictions on Donald Trump's Facebook and Instagram accounts as the 2024 election approaches.
According to The Guardian, Trump was permitted to return to social networks in 2023 with "guardrails" in place after being banned for his online behavior during the January 6 insurrection. Those guardrails have now been removed.
Meta explained in a blog post, "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." The statement referenced the upcoming Republican National Convention, which will officially nominate Trump as the party's candidate.
As a result, Meta said, Trump's accounts will no longer be subject to heightened suspension penalties, which Meta said were created in response to "extreme and extraordinary circumstances" and "have not had to be deployed".
"All 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," the company's blogpost reads.
The company first took action against Trump's social media accounts in 2021, shortly after the January 6 insurrection in Washington, D.C. Meta suspended Trump's accounts for two years, citing that some of his actions, such as praising the Capitol rioters, posed a potential risk of inciting further violence.
In January 2023, Meta announced it would reinstate Trump on its platform, and he regained access to his accounts the following month. However, Trump was still subject to certain penalties and restrictions that could have resulted in lengthy suspensions of his social media accounts.
Following Meta's latest announcement, if Trump were to violate the company's community guidelines, he would now face a much shorter possible suspension lasting only a few days, rather than the lengthier suspensions previously imposed, reported NBC News.
Trump was also banned from Twitter, now known as X, in 2021.
Billionaire Elon Musk reinstated Trump's account on X shortly after purchasing the company in 2022, although the former president has only posted once since then.
Musk himself indicated support for Trump by donating to a political committee aimed at aiding the former president in defeating Biden, according to a Bloomberg report on Friday.
Meanwhile, the Biden campaign criticized Meta's decision.
"Putting Donald Trump back on Facebook is like handing your car keys to someone you know will drive your car into a crowd and off a cliff," said campaign spokesperson Charles Kretchmer Lutvak.
Trump's Facebook profile has 34 million followers. His campaign frequently reposts messages originally published on Truth Social, along with invitations to rallies and campaign videos.
