Meta on Thursday restored the Facebook and Instagram accounts of former President Donald Trump.
The company initially suspended Trump from the platforms a day after the U.S. Capitol riots on Jan. 6, 2021, citing a high risk of further violence.
- Meta said it has reinstated Trump's accounts "with new guardrails in place to deter repeat offenses."
- It comes after Trump's 2024 presidential campaign asked Meta to reinstate his Facebook account, saying that the ban has "dramatically distorted and inhibited the public discourse."
- As of Friday morning, Trump had yet to post on either platform. He has 34 million followers on Facebook and 23 million on Instagram.
- In November, Twitter restored Trump’s account, though the former president has yet to post there either.
- Shortly after he was banned from multiple social media platforms in 2021, Trump started the alternative social network Truth Social, which is run by the Trump Media & Technology Group.
- He has a “social media exclusivity" deal with the group that requires him to wait six hours after posting on Truth Social before sharing content on other platforms. That commitment reportedly expires in June.
