Donald Trump will soon recover his social media accounts under Meta.
The California-based tech giant recently announced that it would be lifting Trump's suspension from Facebook and Instagram soon after two years since the Capitol siege.
Meta previously banned Trump for his actions during the Capitol siege on Jan. 6, 2021.
Donald Trump's Return To Meta
Trump's return to Meta's social media platforms is a foregone conclusion, but there is a catch. According to the company's statement regarding the lifting of Trump's suspension, the "extraordinary circumstances" that were present when it suspended Trump's accounts have "sufficiently receded," and it should adhere to the two-year timeline it imposed.
At the time of the Capitol siege, Meta previously imposed an indefinite suspension of Trump's accounts because he praised the people engaged in violence at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. However, a consultation with its Oversight Board limited his suspension to just two years, with the Board criticizing the open-ended nature of Trump's suspension and the lack of a clear criteria for when and whether it will restore suspended accounts.
Nevertheless, Meta explained that the decision to suspend Trump's accounts was "an extraordinary one taken in extraordinary circumstances." As such, the company assessed whether the circumstances of that day were still high to justify the ban. The receding of these circumstances convinced Meta to follow through with its two-year suspension.
However, there is a catch. Because of Trump's history, he now faces heightened penalties for repeat offenses in the past. Should Trump continue to post content violating Meta's updated protocol, Meta will remove the offending content, and he will be suspended for up to a month or two years, depending on the violation's severity.
Meta's updated protocol now addresses content that contributes to the same kind of risk and circumstances that materialized on Jan. 6, 2021, such as content that delegitimizes an upcoming election or is related to QAnon. For such posts, Meta may limit its distribution and even temporarily restrict access to its advertising tools for repeated instances.
These measures mean that should Trump post something that matches its new criteria to enact its updated protocol, the post can only be viewed on Trump's account and not on anyone's Feeds, even if they are following him. Meta may even remove the ability to share such posts and stop them from being recommended or run as ads.
These measures are also applicable to the average Facebook and Instagram user.
When Will trump Be Back On Meta's Social media Platforms?
Unfortunately, Meta only mentioned that Trump could return to Facebook and Instagram in the coming weeks. As such, it is unknown when Trump will exactly return to Facebook and Instagram.
When that time does arrive, Trump will receive a direct link to his more than 35 million Facebook followers and 23 milion Instagram followers.
Whether Trump will actually be using his Facebook and Instagram accounts is still debatable. You may remember that Trump previously announced he would not return to Twitter despite CEO Elon Musk resinstating his account on the microblogging platform.
Instead he will stay on Truth Social, the social media platform he personally founded in Oct. 2021. However, that may soon change as he is allegedly planning his first tweets for when his exclusivity contract with Truth Social ends., per The Independent and Rolling Stone.
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