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Published 12:22 26 Jan 2023 GMT
In a shocking plot twist, former President of the United States Donald Trump will be allowed back on Facebook and Instagram after being banned for the past two years.
According to a blog post published by Meta's President of Global Affairs Nick Clegg, the 76-year-old will be reinstated on both Facebook and Instagram after the business reinvestigated the issue.
Clegg, who was also the former deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010-2015, started by outlining the importance of "open debate and the free flow of ideas" on social media, "especially at a time when they are under threat in many places around the world."
"As a general rule, we don’t want to get in the way of open, public, and democratic debate on Meta’s platforms — especially in the context of elections in democratic societies like the United States," the post continued.
"Two years ago, we took action in what were extreme and highly unusual circumstances. We indefinitely suspended then-US President Donald Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts following his praise for people engaged in violence at the Capitol on January 6, 2021."
The event saw hundreds of Trump supporters storm the Capitol building in Washington DC, vandalizing public property and also attacking police officers who were trying to put an end to the riot.
The event also led to the death of five people - including one police officer.
Clegg went on to explain how the blame for the rampage ultimately lay in the hands of Trump, which forced them to review his reach on social media.
"We then referred that decision to the Oversight Board — an expert body established to be an independent check and balance on our decision-making," he wrote. "The Board upheld the decision but criticized the open-ended nature of the suspension and the lack of clear criteria for when and whether suspended accounts will be restored, directing us to review the matter to determine a more proportionate response."
At the time, it was decided that the business tycoon would be suspended for two years from January 7.
"In our response to the Oversight Board, we also said that before making any decision on whether or not to lift Mr. Trump’s suspension, we would assess whether the risk to public safety has receded."
The President of Global Affairs told readers that while the decision was "an extraordinary" one, it was necessary at the time.
"Now that the time period of the suspension has elapsed, the question is not whether we choose to reinstate Mr. Trump’s accounts," he said before adding that after a re-investigation into the matter, the company will be reinstating both his Facebook and Instagram account.
"We know that any decision we make on this issue will be fiercely criticized," he emphasized. "Reasonable people will disagree over whether it is the right decision. But a decision had to be made, so we have tried to make it as best we can in a way that is consistent with our values and the process we established in response to the Oversight Board’s guidance."
The news comes shortly after Trump hosted conservative influencers from the 'Libs of TikTok' and Babylon Bee at Mar-a-Lago in a bid to gain some traction in the run-up to the 2024 Presidential Elections.
As per the Independent, Trump is set to host his first event this weekend in South Carolina.
Published 13:26 05 Jun 2021 GMT
Facebook Inc has announced that Donald Trump will be banned from the social media platform for a further two years.
The former POTUS was suspended indefinitely from both Facebook and Instagram back in January following posts the 74-year-old made regarding the deadly Capitol riots.
However, per BBC News, the social media giant faced criticism last month from Facebook's Oversight Board - which consists of media, legal, and other experts - regarding the "open-ended" penalty.
As a result, Facebook's Vice President of Global Affairs and former Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Nick Clegg confirmed on Friday (June 4) that Trump's ban will last until January 7, 2023.
Clegg, per The Independent, said in a statement:
"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.
"We are suspending his accounts for two years, effective from the date of the initial suspension on 7 January this year."
Clegg added that when Trump's ban comes to an end, Facebook will look to "experts to assess whether the risk to public safety has receded," adding: "If we determine that there is still a serious risk to public safety, we will extend the restriction for a set period of time and continue to re-evaluate until that risk has receded."
Additionally, Clegg offered clarity on the length of the ban, adding:
"Establishing the two year sanction for severe violations, we considered the need for it to be long enough to allow a safe period of time after the acts of incitement, to be significant enough to be a deterrent to Mr Trump and others from committing such severe violations in future, and to be proportionate to the gravity of the violation itself."
In response to the news, Donald Trump has issued a statement from his Save America political action committee.
Trump called the decision an "insult to the record-setting 75m people, plus many others, who voted for us".
The former president added: "They shouldn't be allowed to get away with this censoring and silencing, and ultimately, we will win. Our country can't take this abuse anymore!"
In a second statement, Trump wrote: "Next time I'm in the White House there will be no more dinners, at his request, with Mark Zuckerberg and his wife. It will be all business!"
Of course, the ban will come to an end before the 2024 presidential election, should Trump consider a run.
Per the BBC, Facebook's decision comes as the platform is looking to end its policy that protects politicians from some content moderation rules. The social media giants said that it would no longer provide immunity for politicians who post deceptive or abusive content.
Published 15:32 06 Jun 2021 GMT
Facebook has stated that Donald Trump's ban from the platform could be lifted in 2023 if his "risk to public safety has receded".
The former POTUS was suspended from both Facebook and Instagram for an indefinite period in January. It came as a result of the 74-year-old's actions before and during the US Capitol insurrection on January 6.
He was also banned from other social media sites such as Twitter and Snapchat.
Facebook has said in a statement on Friday that a two-year ban was decided on "to allow a safe period of time after the acts of incitement, to be significant enough to be a deterrent to Mr. Trump and others from committing such severe violations in future, and to be proportionate to the gravity of the violation itself."
It continued: "At the end of this period, we will look to experts to assess whether the risk to public safety has receded. We will evaluate external factors, including instances of violence, restrictions on peaceful assembly and other markers of civil unrest.
"If we determine that there is still a serious risk to public safety, we will extend the restriction for a set period of time and continue to re-evaluate until that risk has receded."
The statement added that if Trump returns to Facebook after the two-year period, "there will be a strict set of rapidly escalating sanctions that will be triggered if Mr. Trump commits further violations in future, up to and including permanent removal of his pages and accounts."
Trump had appealed the ban to Facebook's Oversight Board, which upheld the decision but noted that the penalty needed to be reassessed as the "indefinite" suspension period was too vague.
In May 2021, the Oversight Board said in a statement: "The Oversight Board has upheld Facebook's decision to suspend Mr. Trump's access to post content on Facebook and Instagram on January 7, 2021. However, as Facebook suspended Mr. Trump's accounts 'indefinitely,' the company must reassess this penalty.
"Within six months of this decision, Facebook must re-examine the arbitrary penalty that it imposed on 7 January and decide the appropriate penalty. This penalty must be based on the gravity of the violation and the prospect of future harm."
It continued: "It must also be consistent with Facebook's rules for severe violations, which must, in turn, be clear, necessary, and proportionate. If Facebook decides to restore Mr. Trump's accounts, the company should apply its rules to that decision, including any changes made in response to the Board's policy recommendations below.
"In this scenario, Facebook must address any further violations promptly and in accordance with its established content policies."
Following the ruling by the board, Facebook announced on Friday, June 4, that it would make its penalties in "exceptional cases" more transparent. It also clarified that the ex-president's account would be suspended for at least two years:
"We are today announcing new enforcement protocols to be applied in exceptional cases such as this, and we are confirming the time-bound penalty consistent with those protocols which we are applying to Mr. Trump's accounts.
"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.
"We are suspending his accounts for two years, effective from the date of the initial suspension on January 7 this year."
This comes after it emerged that Trump's personal blog, which he used to post statements after his social media ban, had been permanently shut down.
Published 16:10 05 May 2021 GMT
Donald Trump has launched a new communications platform following his permanent ban from Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
The former President of the United States was banned from a number of prominent social media channels following accusations that he incited the Capitol riots and then publically condoned the mob of pro-Trump supporters responsible for the violent insurrection.
Trump launched a new blog-style website called 'From The Desk of Donald J. Trump' on Tuesday, May 4, in an attempt to get around his social media bans.
His posts, which include every statement the ex-POTUS has made since leaving the White House on January 30, can also be shared on Twitter and Facebook, in a bid to give his followers the opportunity to spread his political rhetoric themselves.
However, there is currently no way for users on the site to comment or react to Trump's posts.
Offering up a comment on the new site, Trump's spokesman Jason Miller tweeted:
"President Trump's website is a great resource to find his latest statements and highlights from his first term in office, but this is not a new social media platform.
"We'll have additional information coming on that front in the very near future."
This comes the same week that Facebook's Oversight Board made the decision to uphold Trump's ban from Facebook and Instagram, although this will be subject to a review in six months' time.
Per BBC News, the board also determined that Facebook violated its own rules by imposing an indefinite suspension on Trump, something not described in the social media giant's content policies.
On Twitter, a spokesperson for the board wrote:
"We call on Facebook to ensure that if a head of state or high government official repeatedly posts messages that pose a risk of harm under international human rights norms, the company should either suspend the account for a set period or delete it."
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg previously announced that Trump had been banned "indefinitely" from Facebook in a statement issued on January 7, 2020.
In a post on Facebook, Zuckerberg wrote that he believed Trump intended on using his remaining time in office to "undermine the peaceful and lawful transition of power" to Joe Biden.
He continued by stating that, although Facebook's free speech policies had given the Republican leader freedom on the platform up till then, there was concern that Trump would use social media to incite further violence in the wake of the riots.
The Facebook CEO concluded: "We believe the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great."
Published 13:32 02 Oct 2021 GMT
Donald Trump has asked a federal judge in the US to force Twitter to restore his account.
Both Twitter and Facebook blocked his profile on their respective platforms in the wake of the US Capitol attack on January 6. Trump, at the time, was accused by many of inciting the deadly insurrection.
Twitter banned Trump indefinitely, while Facebook said the ex-POTUS would remain suspended until at least January 2023.
It now seems as though Trump is desperate to have his Twitter account back, CNBC reports.
Per The Guardian, Trump argues that Twitter was "coerced" by members of the US Congress to suspend the account, which had tens of millions of followers.
What's more, his lawyer said Twitter "exercises a degree of power and control over political discourse in this country that is immeasurable, historically unprecedented, and profoundly dangerous to open democratic debate."
The filing added that Twitter allowed the Taliban to tweet frequently about its military victories in Afghanistan, but censored the president during his term in office by labeling his posts as "misleading information", as well as saying he broke Twitter's rules against "glorifying violence".
In July, Trump launched legal action lawsuits against Twitter, Facebook Inc, and Alphabet Inc's Google, along with their chief executives, alleging they unlawfully silence conservative points of view.
Trump is reportedly seeking a restoration of his accounts on the platforms as well as punitive damages on the companies responsible for suspending his accounts.
At the time of Trump's suspension from Twitter, a spokesperson wrote in a statement:
"After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them — specifically how they are being received and interpreted on and off Twitter — we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence.
"In the context of horrific events this week, we made it clear on Wednesday that additional violations of the Twitter Rules would potentially result in this very course of action.
"Our public interest framework exists to enable the public to hear from elected officials and world leaders directly. It is built on a principle that the people have a right to hold power to account in the open."
Published 16:42 07 Jul 2021 GMT
Donald Trump plans to file class-action lawsuits against Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter's Jack Dorsey.
News of the legal filing comes after both of the social media giants blocked his profile on their respective platforms in the wake of the US Capitol attack on January 6. Trump, at the time, was accused by many of inciting the deadly insurrection.
Twitter banned Trump indefinitely and Facebook said the ex-POTUS would remain suspended until at least January 2023.
Now, sources have informed Axios that the former president plans to announce the lawsuits at a press conference on July 7.
Per the outlet, the filings will center on the alleged bias the platforms have against the Republican's supporters.
Trump is reportedly seeking a restoration of his accounts on the platforms as well as punitive damages on the companies responsible for suspending his accounts.
Last month, Facebook's Vice President of Global Affairs and former Deputy Prime Minister of the UK Nick Clegg confirmed that Trump's ban will last until January 7, 2023.
Clegg said, per The Independent:
"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.
"We are suspending his accounts for two years, effective from the date of the initial suspension on 7 January this year."
At the time of Trump's suspension from Twitter, a spokesperson wrote in a statement:
"After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them — specifically how they are being received and interpreted on and off Twitter — we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence.
"In the context of horrific events this week, we made it clear on Wednesday that additional violations of the Twitter Rules would potentially result in this very course of action.
"Our public interest framework exists to enable the public to hear from elected officials and world leaders directly. It is built on a principle that the people have a right to hold power to account in the open."
Trump has repeatedly condemned the suspension of his accounts. Last week, he even alleged that Zuckerberg funded unsecured drop boxes in the 2020 election - as the 75-year-old claimed yet again that he was the rightful winner of the 2020 US presidential election.
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