Meta, the parent company of Facebook, announced on Friday that it would soon roll back restrictions it placed on former US President Donald Trump's Instagram and Facebook accounts. The company explained it was making the change to ensure parity among presidential candidates leading up to the 2024 election, according to Axios . "In assessing our responsibility to allow political expression, we believe that the American people should be able to hear from the nominees for president on the same basis," Meta president of global affairs Nick Clegg said in a statement. "In reaching this conclusion, we also considered that these penalties were a response to extreme and extraordinary circumstances, and have not had to be deployed," he noted. Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts, which were suspended following the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot, were reinstated in early 2023 , but have been subject to stricter penalties than other Meta users, including account suspensions and advertising restrictions, if he violated the company's rules. While those penalties were designed to limit any public figure's accounts during civil unrest, Trump's accounts were the only ones that have so far been subject to those restrictions, a spokesperson confirmed. Related articles: Facebook, Instagram moving 'back to our roots' on free speech Meta’s Oversight Board is stacking the decks against Zionism BBC's pro-Palestinian study High-profile Israeli and Zionist social media accounts disabled Neither of Trump's official accounts on Instagram or Facebook violated the company's policies during his restriction period, which meant his accounts never triggered those penalties, according to Axios . Trump was also banned from Twitter and a host of other sites following the January 6 riots, though Twitter owner Elon Musk reinstated Trump’s account in November of 2022, shortly after purchasing the social media site. (Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)
