In the aftermath of the chaotic events of January 6, 2021, former US President Donald Trump was barred from most social media platforms. Nearly two years down the line, Meta (more colloquially known as Facebook) is expected to decide on whether to reinstate the Republican leader on the platform or not.
Reportedly, Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of global affairs, has been charged with the duty to decide if Trump can return to Facebook and Instagram in 2023. The top Meta official, at a recent public event, stated he will make the final call in consultation with CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
“It’s not a capricious decision. We will look at the signals related to real-world harm to make a decision whether at the two-year point which is early January next year whether Trump gets reinstated to the platform,” said Clegg.
It is pertinent to note that Trump was banned from nearly every major social media platform in the aftermath of the January 6 Capitol riots where Trump supporters allegedly attempted to overturn the election results. The Republican leader was accused of posting messages online to incite violence.
While Twitter banned the Republican leader for perpetuity, Facebook imposed a two-year ban to be later re-evaluated. However, since the ban was imposed, much water has flown under the bridge.
Trump has formed his own social media platform called Truth Social where he routinely gives an unabridged piece of his mind. While Trump has not commented on a return to Facebook, he has made it clear that he is not returning to the microblogging platform Twitter.
“I am not going on Twitter, I am going to stay on Truth. I hope Elon buys Twitter because he’ll make improvements to it and he is a good man, but I am going to be staying on Truth. The bottom line is, no, I am not going back to Twitter,” Trump said in an interview earlier this year.
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(With inputs from agencies)
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