After Twitter, Meta To Decide On Revoking Facebook Ban On Donald Trump: Report

Trump was suspended from Meta’s platforms for inciting violence soon after a group of his supporters stormed the US Capitol building in Washington in January 2021.

Meta is preparing to announce whether it would let former US President Donald Trump return to Facebook and Instagram

The owner of Facebook, Meta Inc, is preparing to announce whether it would let former US President Donald Trump return to Facebook and Instagram, news agency Reuters reported on Sunday citing the Financial Times.

The social media giant had earlier said that it will make the decision by January 7 but the decision is now expected to be announced later in the month, the newspaper reported citing a person familiar with the matter.

Trump was suspended from Meta’s platforms for inciting violence soon after a group of his supporters stormed the US Capitol building in Washington in January 2021.

According to Reuters, Meta has set up a working group to focus on the matter, which includes staffers from the public policy and communications teams, as well as from the content policy team.

The development comes after Elon Musk, Twitter's new owner, lifted a permanent ban on Trump in November last year on the social media platform after polling users.

Trump maintained that he had no interest in returning to Twitter and has not shared anything there since the reversal of the ban.

"I don't see any reason for it," the former president had said via video when asked whether he planned to return to Twitter by a panel at the Republican Jewish Coalition's annual leadership meeting.

He mostly posted messages on Truth Social, a rival social media site that he set up and controls. 

He was suspended “indefinitely” from Meta’s platforms the day after the attack, for what Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg described as his decision “to incite violent insurrection against a democratically elected government” and “condone not condemn”.

He launched a bid in November last year to regain the presidency in 2024, aiming to pre-empt potential Republican rivals.

(With inputs from Reuters)