Meta announced on Friday that it would be lifting the restrictions previously placed on Donald Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts. This decision aims to ensure a more equal playing field ahead of the 2024 election.
In a statement reported by Axios, Meta’s president of global affairs, Nick Clegg, said, “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.”
Clegg also noted, “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.”
Since Trump’s accounts were reinstated in 2023, they were under threat of penalties if they violated platform rules. These restrictions, which limited the accounts’ reach during times of civil unrest, were uniquely applied to Trump’s social media accounts, according to a company spokesman. However, Trump’s accounts did not trigger these penalties during the restriction period.