Meta announced the lifting of restrictions imposed on former US president Donald Trump’s accounts on Friday. This announcement comes as a product of a review process concerning political candidates originally introduced in January 2023, which involved periodic reviews of accounts subjected to suspension penalties for community standards violations.

Meta viewed that allowing American users to hear from the nominees for President and protecting political expression is important.  Therefore, Meta’s decision to reinstate former US president Donald Trump’s accounts is situated against the backdrop of the imminent Republican convention and is largely influenced by the absence of the extraordinary circumstances that initially justified the restrictions.

Meta had originally suspended Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts indefinitely following his supportive remarks for individuals engaged in the January 6, 2021, Capitol violence. The Oversight Board later upheld this decision but criticized the indefinite nature of the suspension which prompted Meta to review and set a two-year suspension period starting January 7, 2021.

Meta’s response included the creation of a crisis policy protocol to evaluate risks and guide responses during civil unrest. After the two-year suspension elapsed, Meta assessed the current environment, including the conduct of the 2022 midterm elections and expert security assessments. Concluding that the risk had sufficiently receded, Meta has decided to reinstate Trump’s accounts with new guardrails to prevent repeat offenses.

Under the updated protocol, Trump and other reinstated public figures face heightened penalties for repeat offenses. Violating content will be removed, with suspensions ranging from one month to two years based on severity. Additionally, Meta will limit the distribution of non-violating content that risks inciting harm, which will prevent it from appearing in people’s feeds or being reshared.

Currently, former US president Donald Trump posts regularly on his website entitled Truth Social, which he launched in 2021 after being suspended by Facebook and other platforms.