Donald Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts are no longer restricted, Meta told Axios on Friday.
Less than four years after inciting a social media-fueled attack on American democracy that left five dead, Trump will be allowed to use as normal the social media platforms that once concluded that the “risks of allowing the president to continue to use our service” were “simply too great.”
Trump faced additional safety measures on his accounts on the two platforms, including measures to restrict advertisements or suspend an account amid violations of platform rules. These measures were already a step down from those imposed directly following January 6th, with a two-year ban expiring last January.
The measures, meant to prevent Trump from inciting widespread violence or civil unrest after his posts urged rioters to continue their attempts to block the certification of the election, were removed for the sake of fairness.
“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,” Meta president of global affairs Nick Clegg said in a statement to Axios. “These penalties were a response to extreme and extraordinary circumstances, and have not had to be deployed,”
Meta ended the safety policy, arguing that a small policy violation could result in his account being suspended ahead of the election, blocking him from reaching voters.
Trump, who has scantly used the Meta-owned platforms, and refused to return to Twitter/X after Elon Musk restored his account access, is much more active on his own social media platform, Truth Social.
YouTube and X rolled back restrictions on his accounts earlier, with the former also reversing a ban on dangerous election misinformation, including claims that the 2020 race was stolen.