Meta’s President Addresses Company’s Facebook Decision to Donald Trump

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It’s only January, but we may have already heard the understatement of the year.

Nick Clegg, president of global affairs for Meta Platforms (META) – Get Free Report, announced on January 25 that the social media giant will soon allow former president Donald Trump on Facebook and Instagram in the coming weeks.

“We know that any decision we make on this issue will be heavily criticized,” Clegg said in a lengthy statement.

Trump, who is running for president again, was suspended at two sites after the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the US Capitol following his defeat in the 2020 presidential election.

“The suspension is an extraordinary decision taken in extraordinary circumstances,” Clegg said. “The normal state of affairs is that the public should hear from a former President of the United States, and a declared candidate for that office again, on our platforms.”

Trump’s last Facebook post was on that date when he said “I ask that everyone remain peaceful in the US Capitol. No violence! Remember, WE are the Party of Law and Order – respect the Law and our great men and women in Blue . Thank you!”

Clegg said the company had determined that the risk to public safety that existed during the insurrection “had sufficiently receded.”

“Because of this, we will be restoring Mr. Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts in the coming weeks,” he said. “However, we are doing this with new guardrails in place to deter repeat offences.”

Clegg said that if Trump posts more infringing content, it will be removed and he will be suspended for between one month and two years, depending on the severity of the violation.

“The reality is that people will always say all kinds of things on the internet,” he said. “We default to letting people speak, even if what they have to say is unpleasant or factually incorrect.”

Twitter also banned Trump after Jan. 6, but Tesla (TSLA) – Get Free Report CEO Elon Musk, who bought the microblogging website for $44 billion in October, said he would allow the former president to tweet again.

Trump has reportedly told his inner circle that he is willing to waive the exclusivity clause he signed with Truth Social (DWAC) — the social media platform created by his company, Trump Media & Technology Group.

Twitter lit up with all kinds of reactions to Trump’s pending comeback.

“Trump incited an uprising. And tried to stop a peaceful transition of power,” tweeted Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff. “He has shown no remorse. No remorse. Giving him back access to a social media platform to spread his lies and demagoguery is dangerous. @facebook caved, giving him a platform to do more damage.”

Across the aisle, Republican Rep. tweeted. Jim Jordan, “it’s great that President Trump will be back on Facebook soon.”

“But he shouldn’t have been banned in the first place,” Jordan said, “It won’t happen again.”

Clegg concluded his statement by saying “reasonable people would disagree that this was the right decision.”

“But a decision had to be made, so we tried to do it as best we could in a way that was consistent with our values ​​and the process we established in response to the Oversight Board’s guidance,” he said.

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