More than two years after the US Capitol was stormed, ex-President Donald Trump’s accounts on the online platforms Facebook and Instagram have been reactivated. This was reported on Thursday by several US media, citing a spokesman for the parent company Meta. Trump, who wants to run again in the 2024 presidential election, initially did not publish any new posts on Facebook or Instagram.
Trump’s accounts with the networks were blocked after radical supporters of the then president stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. Facebook justified the procedure at the time with the risk of further violence. The online giant, founded by Mark Zuckerberg, later set the duration of the ban at an initial two years from the date of the ban.
Then, two weeks ago, Meta Policy chief Nick Clegg announced the lockdowns would be lifted “in the coming weeks.” The “risk to public safety” has decreased sufficiently.
“The public should be able to hear what politicians are saying so they can make informed decisions,” Clegg said. At the same time, Trump would face “heavier penalties for repeat offenses” because of his previous violations of the user rules.
Trump had been spreading false claims for weeks
Hundreds of supporters of the president-elect stormed the Capitol to prevent official confirmation of Democrat Joe Biden’s victory in the November 2020 presidential election. For weeks, Trump had been spreading the false claim that massive election fraud had robbed him of a second term.
Hours after the Capitol attack began, the right-wing populist called on his supporters in a Facebook video to go home “peacefully”. But at the same time he pressed them with the words “We love you. You are something very special” from his support.
In addition to Facebook and Instagram, other online platforms also blocked Trump’s user accounts. The short message service Twitter then lifted the ex-president’s ban last November, a few weeks after the takeover by technology entrepreneur Elon Musk. Shortly before, Trump had announced that he wanted to run again in the November 2024 presidential election.
The ex-president, whose most important mouthpiece was Twitter, has not yet posted any new tweets. The 76-year-old says he wants to focus on the platform he co-founded, Truth Social. However, he is far from reaching as broad a public as he once did via Twitter and Facebook. (AFP)
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