The company confirmed on Wednesday that Trump will continue to be banned from Facebook, his account having been suspended since the January 6, 2021 attack on the US federal Capitol.
However, Trump may not have to wait too long to return to the site, as his suspension from Facebook will be reconsidered in January, two years after the sanction was imposed.
One change will be immediate: as a candidate, Trump will no longer be subject to Facebook fact checks. That’s because, according to Facebook’s rules, comments from elected officials and candidates for public office aren’t fact-checked on their site.
During his tenure as president, Trump’s use of social media presented a major challenge for major platforms as they tried to balance the need to listen to their elected leaders with concerns about misinformation, harassment, and incitement to violence.
After the January 6 riot, Trump was also banned from Snapchat, Twitter and Instagram, which are owned by Facebook’s parent company Meta. YouTube suspended Trump’s ability to post videos on his channel. YouTube spokeswoman Ivy Choi said Wednesday that the company has no plans to lift the suspension.
Trump’s account was initially suspended by Facebook on Jan. 6 for 24 hours after he praised rioters who stormed the Capitol. Facebook creator and CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced an indefinite suspension on Jan. 7, adding that “the risks of allowing the president to continue using our service during this time are just too great.”
The company’s quasi-independent supervisory board upheld the ban, but ordered Facebook to set a deadline. The ban expires on January 7, 2023.
On the other hand, the new owner of Twitter, Elon Musk, said he did not agree with the platform’s decision to expel Trump after the January 6 attack. Musk noted that no announcements will be made about reinstating banned users until the matter is reviewed by a content moderation committee.
Twitter did not respond to questions about whether Trump’s candidacy will impact the decision. Since being suspended, Trump has founded his own social network, TruthSocial, and has said he has no plans to rejoin Twitter even if he is allowed to.
