Donald Trump will be able to return to Facebook

Donald Trump won his case. Last week, the former American president asked to be able to return to Facebook. Meta, to which the social network belongs, granted its request: the group announced on Wednesday January 25 that it would, in the coming weeks, “end suspension” of Donald Trump’s accounts on Facebook and Instagram, two years after the exclusion of the former American president following the assault on Capitol Hill.

“The public must be able to hear what politicians are saying so they can make informed choices”justified Nick Clegg, the head of international affairs at Meta, in a press release.

“But that doesn’t mean there are no limits to what people can say on our platform. When there is a risk of harm in the real world – a high risk that justifies Meta’s intervention in the public debate – we act”he specified.

The former American head of state had been excluded from the social network on January 7, 2021, while he was still in power, for having encouraged his supporters during the attack on Congress in Washington the day before, an unprecedented decision. , imitated at the time by most mainstream social networks, including Twitter.

Also listen January 6, 2021: the day American democracy faltered

In a press release, the Oversight board of Meta, the group of independent personalities responsible for commenting on the moderation decisions of Facebook and Instagram, believes that the measures put in place by Facebook since 2021 and the freezing of Donald’s account Trump are moving in the right direction, but still need to be made more transparent. ” Decision [de réactiver les comptes de Donald Trump] is a crucial moment in the debate on dangerous content published by elected officials”estimates the Oversight board. “As Meta writes, there are conflicting arguments about the limits to be set, and that is why […] that social networks must act in complete transparency. »

Already readmitted on Twitter

In June 2021, Facebook had decided that the exclusion would last two years, and that the Republican billionaire could only return when the “risks to public safety” would have ” gone “.

Suspension “should never again happen to a sitting president or anyone who doesn’t deserve sanctions!” »responded Donald Trump from his account on Truth Social, the social network he launched last year.

Donald Trump’s lawyer wrote a letter last week to Meta founder and chairman Mark Zuckerberg, calling on him not to “Silence a presidential candidate”.

On November 20, billionaire Elon Musk announced, a few weeks after taking over Twitter, that he would reactivate the former American president’s account on this social network – his account had been suspended on January 6, 2021 for “incitement to violence”.

Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers The reactivation of Donald Trump’s Twitter account, a symbolic decision

Donald Trump, a compulsive Twitter user throughout his presidency, however, has not posted anything on his account since his reactivation, communicating mainly via his own platform, Truth Social.

The world

Special offer for students and teachers

Access all our content unlimited from 8.49 euros per month instead of 9.99 euros

Subscribe

The billionaire is, for a few more months, bound to respect an exclusivity clause which is part of his agreement with Truth Social: the former president has undertaken to publish his messages only on this social network which is mainly aimed at American conservatives. Already in financial difficulty, Truth social will be in very bad shape if Donald Trump starts publishing on other networks.

Read also: Parler, Truth Social, Gab… The difficult survival of far-right social networks

source site-29