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Axios got the scoop on it, but within 10 minutes it was all over the place: Facebook (and Instagram) will reinstate Donald Trump's accounts. Nick Clegg, Meta's president for global affairs said: "We've always believed that Americans should be able to hear from the people who want to lead the country. We don't want to stand in the way of that."
Perhaps he has forgotten that Trump was removed for lying and inciting violence? But that was 2 years ago, so all is forgiven and forgotten. Well, actually, Meta did not forget one thing. They did not forget that a couple of weeks ago a bunch of Trumpists, with powers to launch investigations and compel testimony, took over the House of Representatives. This is a transparent attempt to throw some meat to the wolves, in hopes that they won't go after Meta.
The reinstatements will give Trump two big platforms for his presidential campaign. He had 34 million followers on Facebook and 23 million on Instagram. He will now also be able to run ads and do fundraising on these platforms. Trump has also be reinstated at Twitter, but he hasn't posted anything to his Twitter account since being reinstated. Of course, doing that would be tantamount to admitting that Truth Social is a failure. On the other hand, he can use Facebook and Instagram and still save face.
Meta has instituted some new policies relating to civil unrest, but the company was hesitant to enforce its existing policies in 2021, so many people are wondering if it will be willing to enforce them if Trump violates them again. Also, the company left itself an out. The new policy will be that if someone violates the rules but the posting is newsworthy, the company may leave it up. (V)