Meta announced on Wednesday that former President Trump would be reinstated with strings attached on Facebook and Instagram following a two-year ban put in place after the Jan. 6 riot, prompting a scathing response by the Republican leader.

(Video Credit: LiveNOW from FOX)

Trump aired his response on his own social media platform, Truth Social, Wednesday afternoon, slamming Meta for banning him in the first place. He also thanked Truth Social for “doing an incredible job” and giving him a voice when those on the left attempted to silence him.

“FACEBOOK, which has lost Billions of Dollars in value since ‘deplatforming’ your favorite President, me, has just announced that they are reinstating my account,” he stated. “Such a thing should never again happen to a sitting President, or anybody else who is not deserving of retribution! THANK YOU TO TRUTH SOCIAL FOR DOING SUCH AN INCREDIBLE JOB. YOUR GROWTH IS OUTSTANDING, AND FUTURE UNLIMITED!!!”

Meta made the announcement that it would end Trump’s suspension on Facebook and Instagram “in the coming weeks” but followed it with the caveat that he would face severe penalties if the former president violated their vague and fluid rules, according to Fox News.

Nick Clegg, who is the president of global affairs at Meta, proclaimed that the company had determined Trump is no longer a “serious risk to public safety” and they had instituted “guardrails” for his return to the social media platforms.

“To assess whether the serious risk to public safety that existed in January 2021 has sufficiently receded, we have evaluated the current environment according to our Crisis Policy Protocol, which included looking at the conduct of the US 2022 midterm elections, and expert assessments on the current security environment,” Clegg asserted.

“Our determination is that the risk has sufficiently receded and that we should therefore adhere to the two-year timeline we set out. As such, we will be reinstating Mr. Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts in the coming weeks. However, we are doing so with new guardrails in place to deter repeat offenses,” he not-so-subtlely threatened.

Following the Jan. 6 incident, Facebook booted Trump “indefinitely” for his alleged involvement. Millions of Americans saw it as a purely political move by Facebook to silence the conservative president.

It was the first time a sitting president had been banned from Facebook and doing so drew intense backlash. Twitter, Snapchat, and YouTube also banned the former president.

According to Clegg, Facebook evaluated Trump’s standing in June 2021 and then adjusted the ban to a minimum of two years, until Jan 2023.

Meta’s “guardrails” imposed on Trump include a heightened penalty for a repeat offense if he violates the social media platform’s terms of service or contributes to conversations that do “not violate our Community Standards but that contributes to the sort of risk that materialized on January 6,” Clegg noted,

That seems to indicate that the former president will be censored once again if he doesn’t behave.

🚨BREAKING: Facebook parent Meta reinstates fmr. President #Trump on the platform. Trump was suspended following the #January6th Capitol attack.

Statement: "The public should be able to hear what politicians are saying so they can make informed choices." @OKCFOX pic.twitter.com/fOhW7pFaB9

— Dan Snyder (@DanSnyderTV) January 25, 2023

 

“In light of his [Trump’s] violations, he now faces heightened penalties for repeat offenses – penalties which will apply to other public figures whose accounts are reinstated from suspensions related to civil unrest under our updated protocol,” Clegg added.

If Trump violates Meta’s rules, it could result in another ban ranging from one month to two years, based “on the severity of the violation.”

Clegg and Meta seem cognizant that leftist critics are going to shred the platform over the move.

Trump previously told Fox News Digital that Facebook has “lost $700 billion since I was de-platformed.”

“It has been considered a major business mistake for them, Twitter, and others,” he contended.

“If they took us back, it would help them greatly, and that’s okay with me,” Trump stated earlier in January. “But they need us more than we need them.”

Steven Cheung, who is Trump’s campaign spokesman, told Fox News Digital in an interview that the former president’s campaign in 2016 relied heavily on Facebook ad sales when he trounced Hillary Clinton. He spent $44 million between June and November 2016, according to Cheung.

According to Reuters, Trump has 34 million followers on Facebook and 23 million on Instagram. He has already been reinstated on Twitter by Elon Musk but has yet to post there, sticking instead to Truth Social.

Facebook and @instagram would not have done a 180 on banning Trump were it not for @elonmusk’s purchase of @Twitter—and the release of the Twitter Files providing proof of anti-GOP collusion between DOJ, Big Tech and the Democrat party. God Bless Musk, African-American warrior!

— Larry Elder (@larryelder) January 26, 2023

Trump has already announced running for the presidency once again in 2024. He is the only Republican so far to wade into those election waters.

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