Former President Donald Trump would possibly run for president again, but he still can’t use Facebook.
The social media platform has no plans to reinstate Trump’s account after the former president announced he will seek a momentary term in the White House, the company showed Wednesday. Trump was kicked out of Facebook after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U. S. Capitol. U. S.
However, Trump may not have to wait long to get back on the site. His suspension from Facebook is expected to be reviewed in January, two years after it was first imposed.
A replacement will be immediate: As a candidate, Trump will no longer be subject to fact-checking on Facebook. In fact, according to Facebook’s rules, comments from elected officials and election applicants are the subject of fact-checking on its site.
Throughout his tenure as president, Trump’s use of social media posed a significant challenge to major social media platforms seeking to balance the public’s desire to hear from their elected leaders with considerations about misinformation, harassment and incitement to violence.
After the Jan. 6 riots, Trump was also kicked out of Snapchat, Twitter and Instagram, owned by Facebook’s parent company, Meta. Trump’s ability to post videos on his YouTube channel was suspended.
YouTube spokeswoman Ivy Choi said Wednesday that the company has no plans to suspend.
Twitter’s new owner, Elon Musk, said he disagreed with the platform’s resolution to ban Trump after the Jan. 6 attack. Musk said no announcement will be made regarding the reinstatement of banned users until a content moderation board reviews the matter.
Twitter did not respond to questions about the effect of Trump’s candidacy on the decision. Since his suspension, Trump has introduced his own social media platform, TruthSocial, and said he has no plans to sign up for Twitter if allowed.
The platforms would be justified if they prolonged their restrictions on Trump or made them permanent, said Heidi Beirich, founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism and a member of Real Facebook’s oversight board, which has criticized Meta’s reaction to extremist content. and misinformation.
“The big challenge is to treat applicants as if they belong to a special category and deserve special treatment,” Beirich said. “If you have one set of rules, it applies to everyone. Resolution will not be a fight. “
First, Facebook suspended Trump’s account for 24 hours on Jan. 6 after congratulating rioters who stormed the Capitol. Facebook author and CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced an indefinite suspension on Jan. 7, 2021, adding that “the dangers of president continuing to employ our service this time are too cool. “
The company’s quasi-independent oversight board upheld the ban and ordered Facebook to set a deadline. The ban now expires on January 7, 2023.