“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.”
Meta said on Friday that it would be rolling back restrictions that had been placed on Donald Trump's Facebook and Instagram accounts. The company said that the change would ensure a more equal playing field ahead of the 2024 election.
According to a report from Axios, Meta president of global affairs, Nick Clegg said in a statement, "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 added, "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."
Since Trump’s accounts were reinstated in 2023, the accounts were under threat of penalty if they violated rules on the platform. The restrictions limited the account’s reach during civil unrest, only Trump’s social media accounts were subject to that type of restriction, a spokesman for the company said. Trump's social media accounts never triggered those penalties within the restriction period.
Meta as well as other social media platforms barred Trump from accessing them after the events of January 6. Those bans led to the formation of Truth Social, which Trump has opted to use more often than other platforms. Trump was reinstated on then-Twitter after it was bought up by Elon Musk. Trump has only posted once on the platform now known as X, when he posted his mugshot from Fulton County Jail in Georgia.
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