Democratic lawmakers are urging Meta not to restore Trump’s Facebook account in January

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Washington CNN —

Two Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday urged Meta to maintain Donald Trump’s suspension from its platforms when it revisits the matter in January, arguing that the former president’s recent posts on his own social media platform suggest that he’d probably break the social media giant’s rules if given a chance.

The letter from California Rep. Adam Schiff and Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse cited multiple news reports about Trump’s postings on Truth Social, the former president’s alternative Twitter. They characterize his statements as election misinformation and, in some cases, incitement.

At Truth Social, Trump also reportedly grew a following of the QAnon conspiracy theory that Meta banned from its platforms in 2020, the lawmakers wrote.

For Meta to reliably maintain a legitimate election integrity policy, it is important that your company maintain its platform ban on former president Trump, the letter said. Based on Metas’ own statement on the criteria for allowing Trump to return to the platform, his account should continue to be restricted.

Meta declined to comment on Wednesday’s letter.

The company suspended Trump for two years after the riots at the Capitol on January 6, over concerns that he had incited violence. With the help of outside experts, it plans to assess in early January whether to lift Trumps restrictions and allow him to post on its platforms again.

A key metric in determining whether Trumps account will be reinstated is whether there is a continuing risk of real-world violence, Meta said. Nick Clegg, the company’s head of global affairs, said in September that false statements about the election results were not necessarily a factor in the decision.

It’s not whether you tell the truth or not, it’s whether what you say or do incites violence and can be clearly linked to real-world developments that threaten real-world harm, Clegg said at an event -hosted by news outlet Semafor. It’s not about truth or lies.

If Trump is allowed to return to Metas’ platforms and violates the rules again, Meta said last year, he would face an increasing range of penalties that would include the possibility of a permanent ban.

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