Meta has announced that it will no longer impose heightened suspension penalties on former President Donald Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts. This decision, effective immediately, aims to ensure all presidential nominees are on an equal footing on the platform ahead of the 2024 U.S. presidential election.
Initial Suspension and Heightened Penalties
Initially, Meta acted against Trump’s accounts in 2021 following the January 6 insurrection in Washington, D.C., suspending his accounts for two years due to concerns that his actions, including praise for the Capitol rioters, could incite further violence.
When Meta reinstated Trump’s social media profiles in January 2023, it subjected him to stricter penalties than other users. Under these heightened penalties, Trump could have been banned for up to two years for violating Meta’s community standards.
New Penalties for Violations
Now, Meta has aligned Trump’s penalties with those for regular users. Under standard rules, breaking Facebook’s Community Standards results in a warning, with escalating penalties for repeated violations. After two strikes, users can be banned from specific posting features for limited amounts of time. Seven violations can lead to a one-day posting ban, while ten strikes result in a month-long ban.
In a blog post, Meta emphasized the importance of allowing political expression, stating, “We believe that the American people should be able to hear from the nominees for President on the same basis.” A Meta spokesperson characterized the update as bringing Trump to parity with President Biden, the presumptive GOP nominee.
Meta’s rollback of heightened penalties comes just before the 2024 Republican National Convention. The company stated that these penalties were a response to extreme circumstances and had never been deployed against Trump.
However, earlier this week, Trump posted a threatening message against Mark Zuckerberg on Truth Social, warning the Meta CEO to “be careful” and calling him “Zuckerbucks.”
Featured Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
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