Meta finally lifts lingering restrictions on Trump months out from November

Tech giant Meta announced Friday it will be lifting former President Donald Trump’s “heightened suspension penalties” on Facebook and Instagram as the 2024 elections grow closer.

President of Global Affairs, Nick Clegg, released an updated statement on the company’s site, announcing the change to the protocols from January 2023, specifically for Trump’s restrictions, in order for users to “hear from political candidates.” The company stated the previous restrictions on Trump had been placed in “response to extreme and extraordinary circumstances” following the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

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“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. As a result, former President Trump, as the nominee of the Republican Party, will no longer be subject to the heightened suspension penalties,” Clegg wrote.

In 2021, Facebook received backlash from President Joe Biden’s White House over its stance on posts regarding COVID-19 as the president accused the tech company for “killing people” due to their lack of censoring of so-called COVID misinformation.

Reports later revealed the White House had pressed Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in 2021 to censor former Fox News host and Daily Caller co-founder Tucker Carlson for stating the COVID-19 vaccines “don’t work,” according to documents released by then-Republican Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry. Facebook executives described the tension as a “knife fight” with the White House officials over the issue, according to a House Judiciary Committee report released in May.

“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. All US Presidential candidates remain subject to the same Community Standards as all Facebook and Instagram users, including those policies designed to prevent hate speech and incitement to violence,” Clegg continued.

After the Capitol riot in January 2021, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced an indefinite ban for the former president on both Facebook and Instagram, stating Trump had “clearly demonstrated his intent “to use his remaining time in office to undermine the peaceful and lawful transition of power to his elected successor, Joe Biden.”

However, nearly two years later the social media platforms revived Trump’s accounts, revealing in January 2023 that the former president would be allowed back on the sites and introducing a new “Crisis Policy Protocol” to guide their “assessment of on and off-platform risks of imminent harm.”

During Trump’s time off of Meta’s platforms, the former president turned to his own social media site, Truth Social, which is owned by Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG). While it is unclear if the former president will be utilizing the platforms for his 2024 campaign, TMTG’s contract with Trump from 2023 states that the president is “generally obligated to make any social media post on TruthSocial” first, prior to posts on other social platforms “for 6 hours.”

The announcement from the tech company comes just days prior to the Republican National Convention (RNC) which is set to start July 15 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The Trump campaign didn’t immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

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