Former President Donald Trump did not budge on his criticism of social networking giant Meta, even after the company promised to restore its accounts on its Facebook and Instagram platforms.
Meta said it will end Trump’s more than two-year suspension “in the coming weeks” in a release Wednesday. The former president originally lost his account privileges in January 2021, a day after his supporters attacked the US Capitol.
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When asked for comment, Trump’s press team directed News week to the former president’s Truth Social post on Wednesday night in which he talked about recovering his accounts, repeating claims he made this month that Meta had “lost billions of dollars in value since he had your favorite president, me.” deformed’.”
“Such a thing should never happen to a sitting president, or anyone else who doesn’t deserve retaliation!” Trump wrote in response to Meta’s announcement. “THANK YOU TRUTH SOCIAL FOR DOING SUCH AN INCREDIBLE WORK. YOUR GROWTH IS EXCELLENT AND THE FUTURE UNLIMITED!!!”
After the unrest of January 6, the former president was also permanently banned from his Twitter account for fear that he would use the platform to incite further violence. Meta said in its release Wednesday that Trump’s suspension from Facebook and Instagram was for similar reasons, but that after reviewing “the current environment under our Crisis Policy Protocol,” the company determined Trump’s risk to public safety was “sufficient has decreased”.
Twitter CEO Elon Musk restored Trump’s account in the fall. The former president has yet to use the platform after the ban was lifted.
Trump has remained consistent on his own social media site, Truth Social, which he launched in February. This is according to a report from April of TUSEN, the platform has at least 2 million active users, including many prominent conservatives who argue that platforms like Twitter are too restrictive.
In an interview with TUSEN News last week, Trump said he was trying to arrange a meeting with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to convince the company to allow him back on its social platforms. Trump’s campaign team also reportedly wrote a letter to Zuckerberg asking him to reinstate Trump on Facebook given his 2024 presidential campaign.
“We believe that the ban on President Trump’s account on Facebook has dramatically distorted and hindered public discourse,” Scott Gast, general counsel for the Trump campaign, wrote in the letter.
It’s unclear if Trump plans to use the Meta accounts once they’re reinstated.
