Democrats Freak Out: Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta Makes Massive Decision On Reinstating Donald Trump On Facebook And Instagram

Credit: Axios

Former President Donald Trump just got the best news. Meta announced that they are restoring his Facebook and Instagram accounts.

Meta President of Global Affairs Nick Clegg made a statement:

Two years ago, Meta took action in what were extreme and highly unusual circumstances. We indefinitely suspended then-US President Donald Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts following his praise for people engaged in violence at the Capitol on January 6th, 2021. We then referred that decision to the Oversight Board – an expert body established to be an independent check and balance on our decision-making. The Board upheld the decision but criticized the open-ended nature of the suspension and the lack of clear criteria for when and whether suspended accounts will be restored, directing us to review the matter to determine a more proportionate response

The decision to remove the former president from the platforms resulted in very mixed reactions. Some were completely thrilled to have him off, while others saw the dangerous precedent it set. 

Clegg added, To assess whether the serious risk to public safety that existed in January 2021 has sufficiently receded, we have evaluated the current environment according to our Crisis Policy Protocol, which included looking at the conduct of the US midterm elections, and expert assessments on the current security environment. Our determination is that the risk has sufficiently receded and that we should therefore adhere to the two-year timeline we set out. As such, we will be reinstating Mr. Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts in the coming weeks. However, we are doing so with new guardrails in place to deter repeat offenses, including heightened penalties for content that violates our Community Standards and potential restrictions on content that does not violate the rules but that contributes to the sort of risk that materialized on January 6th.”

Trump took to Truth Social to comment on Meta reinstating his account:

“FACEBOOK, which has lost Billions of Dollars in value since ‘deplatforming’ your favorite President, me, has just announced that they are reinstating my account. Such a thing should never again happen to a sitting President, or anybody else who is not deserving of retribution! THANK YOU TO TRUTH SOCIAL FOR DOING SUCH AN INCREDIBLE JOB. YOUR GROWTH IS OUTSTANDING, AND FUTURE UNLIMITED!!!”

Under these new terms of his reinstatement, Trump will be subject to suspensions of between one month and two years if he posts content deemed to “incite or celebrate ongoing violent events or civil unrest.”

Trump was also banned from Twitter but was reinstated in November when Elon Musk became the new owner of the company. Trump has not returned to the platform but has still just posted solely on Truth Social.

Of course, not everyone is happy about Trump being reinstated. Adam Schiff criticized the decision.

“Trump incited an insurrection,” Schiff wrote on Twitter. “Giving him back access to a social media platform to spread his lies and demagoguery is dangerous.”

Trump has not yet posted on either Facebook or Instagram since being reinstated.