Democrat Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) is outraged after Meta lifted its ban on President Donald Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts.
Schiff has sent a furious letter to executives at Big Tech giant Meta, Facebook and Instagram’s parent company, over the decision.
As Slay News reported, Meta announced last Wednesday that it would let Trump back on the platforms, after a two-year suspension, in the name of free speech.
In a statement about the move, Meta the penalty imposed after January 6 riot was “an extraordinary decision taken in extraordinary circumstances.”
The social media company pledged to enforce “certain guardrails” on Trump in the future.
“Social media is rooted in the belief that open debate and the free flow of ideas are important values, especially at a time when they are under threat in many places around the world,” Meta stated in the announcement.
“As a general rule, we don’t want to get in the way of open, public, and democratic debate on Meta’s platforms — especially in the context of elections in democratic societies like the United States.”
The company did not say when Trump would be allowed to post on its platforms.
However, the statement said the company is confident that the “risk” Trump supposedly posed to public safety had passed.
Twitter, which also suspended Trump in the wake of the Capitol riot, also recently reinstated Trump.
However, Trump has yet to tweet since the ban was lifted and chooses to communicate through his own platform, Truth Social.
“We are bringing Mr. Trump back in the coming weeks with certain guardrails, applicable to any public figures suspended for certain violations during times of civil unrest,” a statement from Meta reads.
“The penalties and potential restrictions we’ve put in place are a deterrent.”
The company added that it was important for the public to see content from people like Trump, even if it was “distasteful or factually wrong.”
Democrats are still outraged by the move, nevertheless.
Schiff and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) sent a letter to Meta’s President of Global Affairs, Nicholas Clegg, criticizing the company’s decision to let Trump back on the platform.
“Based on Meta’s previous statements on standards for allowing Trump back on the platform, his account should not have been reinstated,” the two congressmen wrote.
“Trump has continued to post harmful election content on Truth Social that would likely violate Facebook’s policies, and we have every reason to believe he will bring similar conspiratorial rhetoric back to Facebook, too.
“How Facebook could reinstate his account, given all the additional content on Truth Social that would likely have resulted in a brand-new suspension if it were on your platform, is inexplicable.”
“[W]e believe that part of Meta’s commitment to election integrity should be ensuring that those who maintain the unfounded, dangerous narrative of the 2020 election are not allowed or encouraged to spread the lie in any form,” they added.
“It is not clear in this decision where Meta will draw the line ‘between content that is harmful and should be removed, and content that, however distasteful or inaccurate, is part of the rough and tumble of life in a free society’ and we would greatly appreciate further clarity on this matter.”
