As Trump gears up for his third bid for the US presidency, his campaign is seeking to revive his social media accounts on Facebook* and Twitter, which were shut down following the events of January 6, 2021.
“We believe that the ban on President Trump’s account on Facebook has dramatically distorted and inhibited the public discourse,” said a letter from Trump’s campaign to Facebook owner Meta*, which was obtained by US media.
The campaign’s letter also asked Meta for a “meeting to discuss President Trump’s prompt reinstatement to the platform.”
A spokesperson for the media giant told US media it would “announce a decision in the coming weeks in line with the process we laid out.”
Trump’s accounts on both platforms were restricted on January 7, 2021, a day after thousands of his supporters stormed the US Capitol Building and dispersed Congress, halting the legislature’s constitutional duty to verify the results of the US presidential election held the previous November. Trump was accused of inciting the attack after encouraging his followers to “stop the steal,” claiming rival Joe Biden had defeated him through fraudulent means. The then-outgoing president, however, called on protesters to disperse peacefully.
The two social media giants banned Trump to stop him from posting messages in support of the rioters. Facebook’s ban was for two years, after which time it would come up for review - a point reached earlier this month. While Twitter’s ban was intended to be for life, after Elon Musk bought the platform in November 2022, he began revoking lifetime bans on numerous right-wing figures, including Trump.
However, Trump has not yet used his now-unlocked Twitter account, saying in the wake of Musk’s decision that would prefer to continue using the Truth Social messaging platform he set up in the wake of his bans.
Trump advisers who spoke with US media indicated that if Meta doesn’t reverse the ban on its own, then the candidate would push House Republicans to pressure Meta on Trump’s behalf, including invoking Section 230 of Telecommunications Act of 1996, which protects internet companies from being treated as the authors of content on their platforms. Efforts by internet companies to control content on their platforms has been derided as editing, and conservatives especially have called for revoking Section 230.
Last month, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), one of the leaders of the Democratic struggle with Trump during his presidency, urged Meta in a public letter to “uphold the suspension of former president Donald Trump’s account.”
*Meta (Facebook and Instagram) is banned in Russia over extremist activities.