Donald Trump is back on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter

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Yahoo Finance tech reporter Allie Garfinkle discusses what Donald Trump’s return to social media platforms means for Meta and Twitter.

Video Transcript

RACHELLE AKUFFO: Meta is ending former president Donald Trump’s Facebook suspension, saying in a statement that his Instagram and Facebook accounts will return in the coming weeks, though just because he’s been reinstated doesn’t mean that he will return. For more on the Meta decision and its impact on the social media landscape, let’s go to Yahoo Finance’s Allie Garfinkle. Now we know he’s also invited back to Twitter– doesn’t seem interested in that. So where do things stand here, then, in the Meta?

ALLIE GARFINKLE: Yes, Rachelle, I’ll be honest with you here. I’m having a bit of a hard time taking the temperature at the moment. Because on the one hand, it feels a little anticlimactic. It’s been a few years. And it was as if he was invited back, as it were. But on the other hand, it feels high stakes, and acquisitions are flying. And I think it’s important to discuss those a little bit because on the legal side, what we have is a renewed conversation about the definition of a free town.

Now, some legal experts tell me that in terms of Trump’s constitutional rights to free speech, this might be the right call on Meta’s part, if you believe Meta is running a digital town square. However, to others, since Meta is a private company, it is not a public square that they operate. It is a private business. So you already have the legal side of it. And beyond that, it’s just as spiky as you’d expect. I have advocates telling me that they are concerned that this will extend Trump’s reach to 2024 as the election approaches. And even one professor I spoke to says we need to remember that this could give Trump a powerful fundraising tool.

However, I think it’s important to say that the Meta is very equivocal here. They don’t give him freedom here. They said they will monitor him closely and have what they call guardrails. And I will say that those guardrails are very necessary. We must remember the reason why he was banned in the first place. And those were the events of January 6.

The story continues

RACHELLE AKUFFO: So, I mean, what happens next here? Because he may or may not decide to ride them, but it’s hard to imagine him not returning to these platforms when you think about his presidential aspirations.

ALLIE GARFINKLE: I think it’s really unclear, Rachelle, right? But on the one hand, it makes sense. But on the other hand, he has Truth Social. And we now just because he’s been brought back, though, doesn’t mean he’s leaving Truth Social. It does not mean that he will return to these platforms. For example, as you said earlier, Elon Musk brought him back on Twitter a while back. And he chose to stay on the platform until now.

So I think where it could be interesting, it could become a big story over time. We’ve seen things come back. We are seeing renewed efforts at content moderation. One expert I spoke to said this is– as scary as it is for him personally, it’s also an opportunity to rethink how content moderation works for someone with the profile of Donald Trump. In the end, even though it can be a major story, there can also be radio silence.

RACHELLE AKUFFO: It’s true. I do not know. Trump and silence don’t usually go hand in hand, especially given how much might be at stake in 2024. But stranger things have happened.

ALLIE GARFINKLE: It’s not his strength, but let’s see.

RACHELLE AKUFFO: We’ll keep an eye on that. Actually. Allie Garfinkle there. Thanks a lot for that update.

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