Multiple prominent social media companies have reversed longstanding bans on former President Donald Trump. However, he has chosen to return to only two of them in new Friday afternoon posts.
It Started With Meta
Facebook and Instagram, both owned by Meta Platforms Inc., unbanned Trump’s accounts back in February, but he did not immediately return to posting on them.
At the time, the company said it was allowing the former president back because he officially declared his candidacy for 2024.
“The public should be able to hear what politicians are saying so they can make informed choices,” Meta said in a statement.
The company also said it would put “new guardrails in place to deter repeat offenses.”
YouTube Follows Along
Alphabet Inc.’s YouTube suspended Trump’s account in January 2021, saying it believed his content could incite violence.
In its reversal, announced via Twitter, YouTube said, “Starting today, the Donald J. Trump channel is no longer restricted and can upload new content.”
Citing similar reasons to Meta, it continued, “We carefully evaluated the continued risk of real-world violence, while balancing the chance for voters to hear equally from major national candidates in the run up to an election.”
The Reintroduction
Trump posted identical posts to each platform on Friday: “I’M BACK!”
He included a video clip from his 2016 election night victory speech where he began with, “Sorry to keep you waiting, complicated business.”
According to a regulatory filing, Trump is obligated to post first to his Truth Social platform, but it’s highly likely future posts will be cross-posted to Facebook and, in some form, to YouTube going forward.
Trump’s previous preferred platform, Twitter, reinstated his account last year after Elon Musk took over the platform, but thus far Trump has not posted there.
Snapchat is among the social media holdouts that suspended Trump’s account indefinitely and has made no indication it plans to reverse that decision.
