On Wednesday, news spread that Trump's two-year ban on Meta owned social platforms Facebook and Instagram has come to an end, and that he could return if he chose to do so. In a curt statement made to Truth Social shortly after the ban was lifted, the former president turned a cold shoulder, alluding to the belief that the ban should have never happened in the first place, and airing Meta's financial woes.
"Facebook, which has lost billions of dollars in value since "de-platforming" your favorite president, me, has just announced that they are reinstating my account," Trump said. "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!!!"
Trump's ban commenced in June of 2021 for much the same reason that led to him being banned on Twitter for an equally long span of time, presenting the possibility for the "risk of ongoing violence" via posts made during the events surrounding the Jan. 6 insurrection.
In a statement made by Nick Clegg — Facebook's vice president of global affairs at the time of Trump's ban in 2021— he said, "Given the gravity of the circumstances that led to Mr. Trump's suspension, we believe his actions constituted a severe violation of our rules which merit the highest penalty available under the new enforcement protocols."
In an interview on Wednesday with Bret Baier, Clegg said that while Trump is free to return, he has to "play by the rules."
"At the end of the day, we believe the American people should hear from, including on our apps and services, those who want to lead them."
In terms of the "rules" that Clegg referred to, journalist Aaron Rupar pointed out in a post to Twitter that the platform's updated guidelines now prohibit QAnon posts.
telling that Meta has to specify that QAnon posts are not acceptable in the statement announcing Trump’s restoration to Facebook pic.twitter.com/yIFhIRoA61
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 25, 2023
"Notable also that Meta specifies that posts delegitimizing 'upcoming' elections are unacceptable, but not past ones," Rupar furthered. "That's because every other thing Trump posts is a lie meant to delegitimize his 2020 loss. I guess
Meta and Facebook are fine with that though."
