Facebook parent Meta says it will restore former President Donald Trump’s personal account in the coming weeks, ending a two-year suspension it imposed in the wake of the Jan. 6 insurrection.
The company said in a blog post Wednesday it is adding “new guardrails” to ensure there are no “repeat offenders” who violate its rules.
“The public should be able to hear what their politicians are saying—the good, the bad and the ugly—so that they can make informed choices at the ballot box,” wrote Nick Clegg, Meta’s vice president of global affairs.
Clegg added that when there is a “clear risk” to real-world harm, Meta will intervene.
“In the event that Mr. Trump posts further violating content, the content will be removed and he will be suspended for between one month and two years, depending on the severity of the violation,” he wrote.
Facebook is making a grave mistake. Donald Trump should not be allowed back on Facebook or any other social media platform.
Facebook was right to suspend Trump on Jan. 7, a day after the deadly 2021 insurrection. Other social media companies also kicked him off their platforms, though he was recently reinstated on Twitter after Elon Musk took over the company.
Trump should be permanently banned from Facebook and other social media sites.
He did not merely say something offensive, he incited an insurrection.
Facebook was right to suspended Trump on Jan. 7, 2021, for praising people engaged in violent acts at the Capitol a day earlier.
The company should listen to calls from its own employees to remove Trump’s account.
Civil rights groups are right to denounce Meta’s move.
Allowing Trump back on Facebook sends a signal to other figures with large online audiences that they may break the rules without lasting consequences, said Heidi Beirich, founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism and a member of a group called the Real Facebook Oversight Board that has criticized the platform’s efforts.
“I am not surprised but it is a disaster,” Beirich said of Meta’s decision. “Facebook created loopholes for Trump that he went right through. He incited an insurrection on Facebook. And now he’s back.”
NAACP President Derrick Johnson blasted the decision as “a prime example of putting profits above people’s safety” and a “grave mistake.”
“It’s quite astonishing that one can spew hatred, fuel conspiracies, and incite a violent insurrection at our nation’s Capitol building, and Mark Zuckerberg still believes that is not enough to remove someone from his platforms,” he said.
As the world’s largest social media site, Facebook has a responsibility to protect the public from political leaders like Trump who use social media to sow misinformation, harassment and incitement of violence.
(Reprinted from the Philadelphia Tribune)
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