Facebook has lifted restrictions imposed on Donald Trump after the 6 January attack on the Capitol, putting the former president on an equal footing on the platform with President Joe Biden just days before the Republican National Convention. The social media giant initially banned Trump from its platforms in 2021 following the storming of the Capitol by his supporters.
Meta, Facebook’s parent company, lifted that ban last year but introduced “guardrails” including “heightened suspension penalties” for any posts that violated its standards.
Meta has now removed these restrictions, citing that while they were necessary due to the “extreme and extraordinary circumstances” of the Capitol attack, Trump had not breached any of the conditions since then.
“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,” Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of global affairs, wrote in a statement posted to the company’s website on Friday.
Clegg added that both Biden and Trump remain subject to the same “community standards” that apply to all other users on Facebook and Instagram.
Facebook, the world’s largest social media site, has been a vital publicity tool and a crucial platform for garnering donations from supporters during Trump’s previous campaigns. Despite this, Trump has been more active on his own Truth Social site, which he launched after being suspended from Facebook and other platforms.
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