Meta has lifted previous restrictions on Donald Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts as the 2024 election approaches, the company announced Friday.
Trump was allowed to return to social media in 2023 with “guardrails” in place, after being banned for his online behavior during the January 6 insurrection. Those guardrails have now been removed.
“As we assess our responsibility to enable political expression, we believe the American people should be able to hear from presidential nominees on the same basis,” Meta said in a blog post, citing the Republican national convention, scheduled for next week, that will formalize Trump as the party’s nominee.
As a result, Meta said, Trump’s accounts will no longer be subject to further suspension penalties, which Meta said were created in response to “extreme and extraordinary circumstances” and “have not had to be implemented.”
“All US presidential candidates remain subject to the same community standards as all Facebook and Instagram users, including policies designed to prevent hate speech and incitement to violence,” the company’s blog post reads.
Since his return to Meta’s social media, Trump has primarily shared campaign information, attacks on Democratic candidate Biden, and memes on his accounts.
Trump critics and online safety advocates have expressed concern that Trump’s return could lead to a rise in misinformation and incitement to violence, as seen during the Capitol riot that prompted his initial ban.
The Biden campaign condemned Meta’s decision in a statement on Friday, saying it was a “greedy and reckless decision” that constituted “a direct attack on our security and our democracy.”
“Restoring access is like handing your car keys to someone who you know is going to drive into a crowd and off a cliff,” said campaign spokesman Charles Kretchmer Lutvak. “It’s like holding a megaphone for a bona fide racist who will shout their hate and white supremacy from the rooftops and try to make it public.”
In addition to Meta Platforms, other major social media companies have banned Trump over his online activity surrounding the January 6 attack, including Twitter (now X), Snapchat, and YouTube.
The former president was able to return to X last year at the behest of Elon Musk, who bought the company in 2022, though the former president has yet to tweet.
Triumph Returned to YouTube in March 2023. He remains banned from Snapchat.
Trump founded his own social network, Truth Social, in early 2022.