Donald Trump’s accounts on Facebook and Instagram will be restored after Meta announced the end of their two-year suspension.
The prohibition will be lifted “in the next weeks,” according to the social media giant.
According to Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of global relations, the public “should be able to hear what their leaders are saying,” according to a statement.
Following the Capitol riot in 2021, the then-US president was barred from using Facebook and Instagram indefinitely.
Mr Trump’s “support for persons engaging in violence at the Capitol,” according to Mr Clegg, prompted the corporation to take action.
“The suspension was an extraordinary decision taken in extraordinary circumstances,” he added.
He said a review found that Mr Trump’s accounts no longer represented a serious risk to public safety.
But because of Mr Trump’s past “violations” he would now face heightened penalties for repeat offences.
Republicans have been pressing for Mr Trump to be allowed back on Facebook as he prepares to run for the presidency again next year.
Mr Trump posted on his own social media company, Truth Social, in response on Wednesday, saying that Facebook had “lost Billions” after banning “your favorite President, me”.
“Such a thing should never again happen to a sitting President, or anybody else who is not deserving of retribution!” he wrote.
News of Mr Trump’s reinstatement was quickly criticised by Democrats and some activist organisations who expressed concern that the former president could again use the platform to repeat false claims that he won the 2020 election.
“Trump incited an insurrection,” California Democratic Representative Adam Schiff wrote on Twitter. “Giving him back access to a social media platform to spread his lies and demagoguery is dangerous.”
Derrick Johnson, the president of the NAACP, a civil rights organisation, told the Associated Press that he saw the move as a “grave mistake” that was “a prime example of putting profits above people’s safety”.
“It’s quite astonishing that one can spew hatred, fuel conspiracies, and incite a violent insurrection at our nation’s Capitol building, and Mark Zuckerberg still believes that is not enough to remove someone from his platforms,” he said.
Following the 6 January 2021 US Capitol riot, Twitter banned the former president, claiming he violated its rules on the glorification of violence.
However, Twitter’s owner, Elon Musk, announced in November that Mr Trump’s account suspension had been lifted, following a ballot in which users narrowly supported the action.
Mr Trump has not yet returned to Twitter, having earlier said: “I don’t see any reason for it.”
BBC
