Facebook won’t reinstate Trump’s account early - even if he runs for president

Facebook will not reinstate Donald Trump’s suspended account early even if he announces that he will run again for president in 2024.

Mr Trump’s account was suspended by the social media platform following posts the company said violated its incitement of violence policy during the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.

The company’s oversight board then upheld the suspension for Mr Trump’s praise of rioters and stated that it would last for two years.

But with Mr Trump widely expected to announce his attempt to regain the White House, Facebook says that his suspension will remain in place until 7 January 2023 when the company will decide if it can be safely reinstated.

“We’re going to stay on that timeline,” Nick Clegg, president of global affairs at Meta, Facebook’s parent company, told Politico.

Mr Trump’s social media posts on January 6 also saw him permanently banned from Twitter and Google’s YouTube, to heavy criticism from Republican politicians and Mr Trump’s supporters.

In response, the one-term president launched his own social media platform, Truth Social, where he now posts.

Mr Clegg’s remarks on Mr Trump, came as Meta announced its plans for handling misinformation and advertising during the 2022 US midterm elections.

As it did in 2020, Facebook will block new political, electoral and issue-based adverts during the final week of the campaign. The platform will lift the restriction the day after the election.

Facebook also says it will remove all misinformation related to voting, including posts on poll locations, dates, and times.

It says it is also working with 10 fact-checking partners in the US to deal with misinformation, including five Spanish-language ones.