The Meta Group announced this Wednesday that in the coming weeks, the Facebook and Instagram accounts of former United States President Donald Trump, which were removed from these social networks after the attack on the Capitol in Washington on January 6, 2021, will be restored.
After a two-year suspension, other social networks have joined in lifting the veto on former US President Donald Trump’s (2017–2020) accounts. This Wednesday, Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, announced that it would end the suspension that had been placed on the former head of state’s accounts.
The company said in a statement that it had decided to lift the veto based on several margins. One of them is “new safeguards to prevent repeat offenses.” Another is that “people should be able to hear what politicians have to say so they can make informed decisions,” a clear reference to the electoral process, where the first candidates for the White House are just beginning to take shape.
“The suspension is an extraordinary decision under extraordinary circumstances.” It is common practise for people to hear a former President of the United States and a declared candidate for re-election on our platforms. Now that the suspension period is over, we have Mr. The question is not whether or not Trump chooses to reinstate the accounts, but whether the circumstances continue to be abnormal enough to warrant extending the suspension beyond the original two-year period.
Meta’s vice president of global affairs, Nick Craig, also left a written warning: “If Mr. Trump posts more infringing content, the content will be removed, and he will be suspended for anywhere from one month to two years, depending on the severity of the violation.” ” Violation”.
Donald J. Trump’s response was decisive. He conveyed it through his current political megaphone, Truth Social.
“Facebook, who lost billions of dollars in value by “removing” me, their favourite president, just announced they are restoring my account,” he wrote. “This should never happen again to a sitting president or anyone who doesn’t need revenge!”
In another of the last paragraphs of the statement, the billionaire group referred to the responsibilities and rights of society towards the words of the former president.
“Democracy is messy, and people need to be able to have their voices heard.” We believe it is necessary and possible to draw a line between content that is harmful and should be removed and content that is distasteful or inappropriate, which is a part of life. “The chaos of a free society.”
“It’s a disaster.”
Trump’s return to Facebook and Instagram has drawn praise as well as criticism. Civil rights groups see the move as sending the wrong message.
Derrick Johnson, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, argued, “It’s amazing that someone can incite hatred, fuel conspiracies, and ignite a violent uprising against our nation’s capitol building, and Mark Zuckerberg still believes it’s not.” “It’s enough to get someone off their platform.”
At another point, he said what happened this Wednesday through Meta was a “great example” of how to “put profits before people’s safety.”
“I’m not surprised, but it’s a disaster,” said Heidi Beirich, founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Terrorism. “Facebook created loopholes for Trump, through which he jumped.” “He instigated a revolt on Facebook, and now he’s back,” she asserted.
However, Columbia University professor Jameel Zaffel, who serves as director of the House of Higher Studies’ First Amendment Institute, believes the former president’s return was “the right decision.” He argued that Meta’s endorsement was right, not because the former president had a right to be on stage but because the public was interested in hearing directly from candidates for political office.
Another to respond was Adam Schiff, a Democratic member of the House of Representatives, who called it “dangerous” to allow the businessman to spread his “lies and rhetoric” again.
The truth entered the social ring.
Even though Twitter last year overrode the former president’s veto with the arrival of Elon Musk as the company’s head, Trump thanked him but refused to return. “I don’t see any reason to,” he said when asked if he wanted to return.
And on that occasion, he justified his response by highlighting what Truth Social had done “fantastically.” It’s a little harder to leave his own platform to his more than four million followers, whom Donald Trump admires for having a better stake than in the Blue Bird company.
His millions of “followers” on Truth don’t compare to the 34 million on Facebook or the 88 he has.
Twitter is his main political megaphone, so Facebook doesn’t appear to be a reversal of his rhetoric, although he sees it as a way to better communicate with his constituents. His own company died when he migrated to 140 characters.
He doesn’t want me either.
The numbers speak for themselves. Even though it’s losing ground, Facebook is the biggest social site out there. It is especially popular among older Americans, who not only have the right to vote but also have the resources to donate to campaigns.
Return?
The current Democratic president is Joseph R. Biden. The companies decided to block it after the January 6, 2020 attack on the Capitol, after Biden used their networks as a platform to make allegations of “election theft.”
Two people close to Trump’s new campaign said the AP news agency quoted him as saying his return to Twitter is being discussed in his inner circle.
The return, as it is better known, garners enough support but also gives Musk the power to shape the opinion of his millions of followers as an expert in political marketing and a recognised leader on the platform.
Source: AP and Reuters
