Facebook and Instagram restore Donald Trump’s social media pages two years after Capitol riots led to ban

Two years after the infamous Capitol riots, Donald Trump has been granted access to his Facebook and Instagram accounts
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

Donald Trump has been granted access to his Facebook and Instagram pages following a lengthy ban which came into force after the infamous Capitol riots. The announcement came from the President of Global Affairs at Meta, Nick Clegg.

Meta announced in January, it would reinstate the 76-year-old’s accounts but would be adding "new guardrails" so no "repeat offenders" violate company guidelines. Former Deputy Prime Minister of UK, Nick Clegg, stated the former POTUS can now access his Facebook and Instagram again but if he wishes to post about future elections, there’s no guarantee it will appear in people’s feeds.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“If content goes further than that and is something we think clearly will lead to imminent and real-world harm, we’ll go a lot further," said Mr Clegg. “We’ll remove the content and if necessary, suspend his account all over again, ranging from between one-month suspension back to another two-year suspension.”

On January 6, 2021, several thousand Trump supporters stormed the Capitol Building in Washington D.C. The insurrection led to the death of five individuals including police officer Brian Sicknick.

Following the events, Mark Zuckerberg announced  Facebook would move to ban Donald Trump from the platform to prevent any further violence ahead of Joe Biden’s inauguration later that month.

The ban was imposed on Trump ‘indefinitely’ despite being acquitted by the Senate the following month on a charge for inciting insurrection. After this, he launched his own social media platform, Truth Social.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Trump took to Truth Social to respond to Meta’s decision to reinstate his accounts in January. He wrote:"FACEBOOK, which has lost billions of dollars in value since ‘deplatforming’ your favourite president, me, has just announced that they are reinstating my account.

A US congressional committee has recommended criminal charged for Donald Trump for his role in the January 6 riots. (Credit: Getty Images) A US congressional committee has recommended criminal charged for Donald Trump for his role in the January 6 riots. (Credit: Getty Images)
A US congressional committee has recommended criminal charged for Donald Trump for his role in the January 6 riots. (Credit: Getty Images)

"Such a thing should never again happen to a sitting president, or anybody else who is not deserving of retribution!" In November 2022, Twitter’s new owner Elon Musk reinstated Trump’s account but the politician and businessman has declared he doesn’t “see any reason for it (returning)."

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.