Meta to reinstate Facebook, Instagram accounts of Donald Trump
Jan 26, 2023
New York [US], January 26 : The Facebook and Instagram accounts of former US President Donald Trump will be reinstated by Meta after a ban of two years, according to New York Times.
Notably, Trump's accounts on Facebook and Instagram were suspended by Meta following the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot.
Trump's account on Facebook was the most followed one at the time of suspension with hundreds of millions of followers, the New York Times reported citing Meta.
On Jan 7, 2021, the day after hundreds of people stormed the Capitol in his support, Meta suspended Trump from its platforms, citing the risk of inciting further violence. His accounts on other popular social media platforms, such as YouTube and Twitter, were also deactivated that week.
According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Trump has started his own social network, Truth Social, in which he has a financial stake and where he is obligated to make his posts available exclusively for six hours before he can share them on other sites, reported New York Times.
In November last year, Twitter reinstated Trump's account after Elon Musk took over as the CEO of the micro-blogging platform.
"The people have spoken. Trump will be reinstated. Vox Populi, Vox Dei," tweeted Musk. Vox Populi, Vox Dei, a Latin phrase meaning "the voice of the people is the voice of God."
Trump's once-blocked Twitter account reappeared on the platform minutes after company owner Elon Musk announced he was lifting the 22-month suspension on the former president over incitement of violence.
Twitter CEO Musk had put up a poll asking users of the microblogging website to vote on whether to reinstate the account of Trump, who was earlier subjected to a lifetime ban over incitement of violence over the Capitol riot in the US.
"Reinstate former President Trump," the billionaire Twitter owner posted, with a chance to vote either yes or no. "Trump poll getting ~1M votes/hour," he said in a subsequent tweet.
As per the survey, slightly over 15 million Twitter users voted in the poll with 51.8 per cent voting in favour of his reinstatement.
