Former US President Donald Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts have been reinstated by Meta, ending a two-year suspension it imposed in the wake of the Capitol riots.
Facebook’s parent company Meta announced the decision via a blog post saying the public should be able to hear what their politicians are saying — the good, the bad and the ugly — so that they can make informed choices at the ballot box.
“In the event that Mr Trump posts further violating content, the content will be removed and he will be suspended for between one month and two years, depending on the severity of the violation,” Meta said.
Facebook suspended Trump in January 2021 for praising people engaged in violent acts at the Capitol a day earlier.
WHY THIS MATTERS
Facebook is not only the world’s largest social media site, but had been a crucial source of fundraising revenue for Donald Trump’s campaign, which spent millions of dollars on the company’s ads in 2016 and 2020.
The move, which comes as the Republican is ramping up his third run for the White House, will not only allow Trump to communicate directly with his 34 million followers but will also allow him to resume direct fundraising. During the suspension, his supporters were able to raise money for him, but couldn’t run ads directly from him or in his voice.
He was recently reinstated on Twitter after Elon Musk took over the company. He has not tweeted yet. Banned from mainstream social media, Trump has been relying on Truth Social, which he launched after being blocked from Twitter.