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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Technology
Josh Taylor

TechScape: Why Donald Trump’s return to Facebook could mark a rocky new age for online discourse

Is Donald Trump headed back on Facebook?
Is Donald Trump headed back on Facebook? Photograph: Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto/Rex/Shutterstock

It’s been two years since Donald Trump was banned from Meta, but now he’s back. The company’s justification for allowing the former president to return to Facebook and Instagram – that the threat has subsided – seems to ignore that in the two years since the ban Trump hasn’t changed, it’s just that his reach has reduced.

Last week, Meta’s president of global affairs, Nick Clegg, announced that soon Trump will be able to post on Instagram and Facebook. The company said “the risk has sufficiently receded” in the two years since the Capitol riots on 6 January 2021 to allow the ban to be lifted.

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