After being banned over the US Capitol insurrection, former President Donald Trump made his first posts on his reinstated Facebook and YouTube accounts on Friday, which were more than two years later. Trump exclaimed “I’m back” in a 12-second video clip that seemed to show him giving his victory speech after winning the 2016 election. He apologized for the delay, saying, “Sorry to keep you waiting — complicated business.”
The Republican leader, aged 76 and currently running for president again, had been unable to post content for his 34 million Facebook followers and 2.6 million YouTube subscribers. The platforms banned Trump after his supporters stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, in an attempt to stop the certification of his election loss to Joe Biden. The platforms accused Trump of posting content that incited unrest. While YouTube announced his reinstatement on Friday, Facebook had already unlocked his account two months prior.
After spending weeks falsely claiming that the presidential election was stolen from him, Trump was impeached for inciting the riot. Although his Twitter account, which has 87 million followers, remains blocked, he communicates through Truth Social, where he has fewer than five million followers. Meanwhile, the ACLU applauded Meta’s decision to reinstate Trump’s accounts, stating that the public has a strong interest in hearing his speech. However, advocacy groups such as Media Matters for America strongly oppose allowing Trump to exploit the social networking reach of Big Tech giants. Trump’s effective use of social media played a crucial role in his shock victory in 2016. Finally, a US congressional committee recommended in December that he be prosecuted for his role in the US Capitol assault.
