By Anmol Alphonso
Several Indian news outlets misreported that Meta (formerly known as Facebook) has reinstated former United States President Donald Trump on its platforms - Facebook and Instagram.
A Meta spokesperson in an email response confirmed to BOOM that the claim is not true.
Trump's Instagram and Facebook accounts were suspended following January 6, 2021, insurrection on the US Capitol. Called to action by Trump, several of his supporters had gathered in Washington, DC on January 5, 2021, and 6, 2021 to support his false claim that the 2020 election had been "stolen by emboldened radical-left Democrats".
Following the January 6 insurrection, Trump was banned from several social media sites including Twitter permanently banning his account @realdonaldTrump, and Meta suspending his Facebook and Instagram accounts for two years till January 7, 2023, and blocking the former US president from posting new content from his accounts.
Mirror Now on August 30, 2022, tweeted with a graphic claiming, "Former U.S President #DonaldTrump, who was banned from #Facebook & #Instagram in 2021 for 2 years, has made a comeback. His Facebook & Instagram accounts have been reinstated. The move was expected in January 2023."
The tweet was later deleted.
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Free Press Journal also tweeted and reported claiming that former the US president's Facebook and Instagram accounts had been reinstated.
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Free Press Journal in its article also included screenshots of Trump's Facebook and Instagram accounts to claim that he has been reinstated.
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FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that Former US President Donald Trump's Instagram and Facebook accounts have not been reinstated and the ban on him from posting any new content on these two accounts still stood at the time of writing this article.
After the January 6 insurrection, Meta had blocked Trump from posting new content on his Instagram and Facebook accounts for the remainder of his term, which was later extended to January 7, 2023.
Meta in a statement on June 4, 2021, had stated that Trump's suspension would continue for two years and would only be reinstated if 'conditions permit'.
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Additionally, we did not find any credible US news organisations reporting on Trump's Meta accounts being reinstated, nor did we find any official statement by the social media giant stating the same.
BOOM then reached out via email to a Meta spokesperson who denied the claim stating, "This is not true."
In an interview published on August 16, 2022, in Politico, Nick Clegg, president of global affairs for Meta said that the company would maintain its January 7th, 2023, date for reaching a decision on whether to reinstate Trump's accounts.
While Trump is suspended, his Meta accounts are still accessible and old posts on Instagram and Facebook have not been removed following him being barred from posting new content till the suspension.
The last post on his Facebook account was on January 7, 2021, and on Instagram was on January 6, 2021.
