Meta, the social media company, announced this Saturday that it will lift some of the restrictions imposed on the Facebook and Instagram accounts of former U.S. President Donald Trump.
Trump's accounts were indefinitely suspended after he praised the people who stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
At the beginning of 2023, Meta reinstated his accounts, but indicated that he would monitor Trump's posts to detect new violations that could result in another suspension of between one month and two years.
However, now in the context of the United States presidential race, the company has decided to eliminate this additional monitoring, stating that the American people should "be able to hear both candidates on an equal basis," cited La Vanguardia newspaper.
"When evaluating our responsibility to allow political expression, we believe that the American people should be able to hear from presidential candidates on the same basis," Meta declared in an updated blog post.
Donald Trump, who is competing against the current U.S. president Joe Biden to return to the White House, will no longer be subject to additional monitoring on his Facebook and Instagram accounts, as reported by Meta.
The decision has sparked criticism from some experts on social media, who have long argued that Meta and other platforms do not adequately moderate political content, including that of candidates.
Trump was also suspended from Twitter, now called X, in 2021. Billionaire Elon Musk restored his account shortly after acquiring the company in 2022, although Trump has only posted once since then.
This change in Meta's policy comes at a crucial moment, as Americans prepare for the upcoming presidential elections and reinforces the importance of allowing equitable access to political expression on social media platforms.
This Saturday, several hours after Meta's announcement, Trump was the victim of an attack during a rally in Pennsylvania in which he was injured in an ear.
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