Meta lifts restrictions on Trump's Facebook and Instagram accounts ahead of presidential election

Meta announced Friday that it had removed the restrictions it had imposed on Donald Trump's Facebook and Instagram accounts, ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

The company that suspended Trump's platforms in 2021 after the January 6 events on Capitol Hill had already reinstated the former president's accounts in 2023 but with "guardrails" implemented. Now, those barriers were removed to ensure fair competition in the upcoming presidential election.

"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," said Meta's president of global affairs, Nick Clegg, in a statement published by Axios.

According to Meta, the sanctions were instituted in response to "extreme and extraordinary circumstances" and advanced that it adjusted its general protocol to restrict the accounts of public figures during civil unrest.

Likewise, the company emphasized that all U.S. presidential candidates will continue to be subject to the same community standards as all Facebook and Instagram users, including policies designed to prevent hate speech and incitement to violence.

Since Trump returned to the Meta platforms, his posts have consisted mainly of campaign content, criticism of Democratic candidate Joe Biden and memes. However, his primary means of communication during the 2024 campaign has been Truth Social, the social media platform he launched following the bans imposed on his accounts.

Biden's campaign criticisms of Meta.

President Biden's re-election campaign spoke out against the company's decision calling the move "greedy" and "reckless." They argued that reinstating Trump on these popular platforms represents an attack on democracy.

"Restoring his access is like handing your car keys to someone you know will drive your car into a crowd and off a cliff (...) Without question, it is a direct attack on our safety and our democracy," said Charles Lutvak, national spokesman for the Biden campaign.

Lutvak added that this decision will allow Trump and his MAGA allies to spread "fundamentally undemocratic, un-American misinformation."