Donald Trump’s accounts on Facebook and Instagram will no longer be subjected to greater restrictions than the average user.
Meta’s president of global affairs, Nick Clegg, shared with Axios that in order to ensure parity in the 2024 presidential election, the former president’s accounts won’t face stricter penalties.
“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,” Clegg said in a statement. “In reaching this conclusion, we also considered that these penalties were a response to extreme and extraordinary circumstances, and have not had to be deployed.”
The Biden campaign railed against the move as a “greedy” and “reckless” decision.
“Donald Trump relied on these social media platforms to send a violent mob to the Capitol on January 6, where they tried to overturn an election he lost fair and square,” Biden national campaign spokesman Charles Lutvak told the Washington Examiner in a statement.
“The lies he spread on this platform stoked the mob that assaulted police officers,” Lutvak continued. “Five people died. Restoring his access is like handing your car keys to someone you know will drive your car into a crowd and off a cliff. It is holding a megaphone for a bonafide racist who will shout his hate and white supremacy from the rooftops and try to take it mainstream. Without question, it is a direct attack on our safety and our democracy. This greedy, reckless decision will allow Trump and his MAGA allies to reach more Americans with their fundamentally undemocratic, un-American misinformation. Unfortunately, we will all pay the price.”
Following the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, Trump was kicked off Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. His accounts on Facebook and Instagram were reinstated in January 2023, but he faced greater consequences, such as account suspensions and advertising restrictions, if he violated the company’s rules.
However, since being reinstated, Meta has not had to impose any penalties on Trump’s account.
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Trump is the only person subjected to these harsher penalties, which can be applied to any public figure’s account during times of civil unrest.
Minor infractions, such as posting a person’s address without permission, would warrant Trump’s account to be suspended for two years. However, this possibly was concerning to Meta since it believes the public should be able to hear from a presidential candidate.
