Former President Donald Trump's campaign team is looking to get Facebook to unblock the former president's account. The social media giant blocked Trump's account in response to the 2020 U.S. Capitol riot. Trump's campaign says the current ban has distorted public discourse. The parent company Meta has said they will make a decision in the coming weeks. The current ban was set to come up for review after two years, starting this January. Twitter had permanently banned him from the social media platform, until Twitter CEO Elon Musk reinstated his account on November 19.
Donald Trump looking to petition Facebook over the current ban
Former President Trump's campaign formally requested the unblocking of his account. The campaign sent a formal letter to Meta highlighting the importance of free speech and asked for a meeting to discuss Trump's swift reinstatement to Facebook. Trump's campaign letter to Facebook said: "We believe that the ban on President Trump’s account on Facebook has dramatically distorted and inhibited the public discourse." The campaign also noted that it has been two years since the Capitol riot happened and the ban is no longer needed. Social media is also a crucial tool for political communication.
Facebook instituted the ban on January 7, 2021, a day after the riot.
The limited ban on Trump would be up for review after two years, while Twitter took it further and permanently banned former President Trump. President Trump's team has decided against a lawsuit and instead just petitioned the company. The campaign's decision to petition Facebook could be a strategic move, allowing the campaign to emphasize the necessity of free speech and how the ban has impacted public discussion.
Republicans may look to pressure Facebook
The Donald Trump campaign is even considering working with the Republican-controlled House to try to pressure Meta. This could be in response to Section 230 of the federal law, which impacts companies like Facebook and Twitter. Trump's campaign to petition Meta, shows how limited his influence has been using Truth Social, the platform he founded in response to the ban.
Trump has over 4.8 million followers on the platform, but that is just a small fraction of his 88 million followers on Twitter and 34 million followers on Facebook.
One Republican close to the former president has said that the campaign has been discussing his return to Twitter and his campaign has been working on ideas for his first tweet. House Democrats responded to this news by saying Donald Trump has often posted harmful election posts on Truth Social, which could violate Facebook's policies, and they believe he would bring that same rhetoric back to Facebook. As the ban continues currently, the Donald Trump campaign said that should the ban remain, it would be a deliberate effort by a private company to silence Trump's political voice.
