Facebook parent company Meta needs more time to decide whether Donald Trump is welcome back on the platform. The former President of the United States was banned from the platform in early 2021 for allegedly praising Capitol fighters.
Meta had previously said that it would decide before January 7, 2023, whether to allow Trump back into Facebook, two years after he was removed. But according to Financial Times The decision has been delayed until later this month.
According to several sources, the Meta has formed a working group to look into the matter. The group includes members from the Policy and Communications teams. Meta wants to investigate whether the “risk to public safety has been reduced.” If this turns out not to be the case, the company can extend the ban. Meta wanted press agency Reuters Don’t respond right away.
Trump’s account was banned by Facebook in January 2021 after his supporters stormed the Capitol (US House of Representatives). They did it after Trump lost the presidential election. Trump posted two messages on Facebook during the break-in. According to the programme, the messages called for “a violent uprising against a democratically elected government”.
Trump’s ban drew heavy criticism from Facebook users. The Facebook Oversight Board eventually decided that Facebook had the right to ban Trump, but imposing an indefinite penalty was too arbitrary. For this reason a two-year ban was chosen.
