Washington (US): Former US President Donald Trump, on Friday (local time), wrote his first post on his reinstated Facebook after being banned from social media platforms for two years. “I’M BACK,” Trump posted along with a 12-second video that appeared to be his victory speech after winning the 2016 election. In the video clip, the Republican leader also attempted to promote his campaign for the 2024 election.
Earlier, in February this year, Meta restored Trump's Facebook and Instagram accounts. Andy Stone, policy communications director at Meta, had confirmed the development. The reinstatement was anticipated after Facebook's global affairs president Nick Clegg announced in January that the suspension will be lifted.
It should be noted here that Trump's accounts on Facebook and Instagram were suspended by Meta after January 6, 2021, Capitol riot. As per NBC News, the ban was announced initially for an indefinite period, which included the last two weeks of his presidency. The ban on Trump's account was later formally extended for two years.
YouTube too reinstates Trump's account
Meanwhile, on Friday, YouTube also restored Trump's account. Taking to Twitter, a Youtube insider said, "Starting today, the Donald J. Trump channel is no longer restricted and can upload new content. We carefully evaluated the continued risk of real-world violence, while balancing the chance for voters to hear equally from major national candidates in the run-up to an election." "This channel will continue to be subject to our policies, just like any other channel on YouTube," YouTube added.
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Musk restored Trump's Twitter account last year
Notably, last year in November, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk had reinstated Trump's Twitter account following a ban since January, 2021. The decision was taken by Musk after he held an online poll that asked Twitter users to select yes or no on whether Trump's account should be restored. The positive opinion won by 51.2 per cent.
Trump had lost his access to Twitter two days after his supporters stormed the Capitol, soon after the former president had exhorted them to “fight like hell.” Twitter dropped his account after Trump wrote a pair of tweets that the company said cast further doubts on the legitimacy of the presidential election and raised risks for the Joe Biden's presidential inauguration.
(With inputs from agencies)
