Democrats have sent a groveling letter to Facebook and its parent company Meta, begging for the social media giant to keep President Donald Trump banned from their platforms.
Meta banned Trump from Facebook and Instagram over false claims that he “incited violence” and led an “insurrection” during the January 6 2021 Capitol riots.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the sitting President of the United States had been suspended “indefinitely” just one day after the Jan. 6 riots.
In a social media post explaining the decision, Zuckerberg falsely accused Trump of having used Facebook “to incite violent insurrection against a democratically elected government.”
A Meta oversight board later upheld Trump’s ban, extending the original suspension to two years.
The earliest date it can be overturned is January 7, 2023.
With the possibility of Trump’s Facebook ban being lifted just days after Republicans take control of the House, Democrats are now scrambling.
A group of Democrats — Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Reps. Adam Schiff (D-CA), André Carson (D-IN), and Kathy Castor (D-FL) — sent a desperate letter to Meta as fears mount that the company could follow in Twitter’s footsteps and lift Trump’s ban.
They claim that the only way Meta can maintain credibility is to comply with their demand to keep Trump banned.
“For Meta to credibly maintain a legitimate election integrity policy, it is essential that your company maintain its platform ban on former president Trump,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Nick Clegg, president of global affairs at Meta.
Democrats express fear that Trump could be allowed back on Facebook and argue that, because of his rhetoric, which the Left opposes, he should be banned for life.
“Two years later, we can see unequivocally that Trump is still spreading the Big Lie and thus undermining our democracy,” they claimed.
“Indeed, he has expressed support for pardoning people involved in the January 6th attack on police, should he ever get the chance.”
To support their claims, the Democrats cite Trump’s posts on his own social network, Truth Social.
However, the Democrats did not directly cite any of Trump’s posts.
Instead, they refer to a story from music magazine-turned-leftist propaganda outlet Rolling Stone.
They also claimed he should remain banned from Facebook because he “has also incited violence on Truth Social in many instances.”
The Democrats, however, did not cite a single instance of actual violence instigated by Trump.
The technology giant responded by reiterating previous comments about Trump’s accounts, The Hill reported.
In September, Clegg vowed to seriously consider the situation by Jan. 7 and suggested it could result in Trump’s accounts being reinstated.
“We’ve been very open,” said Clegg, the former British deputy prime minister.
“That temporary suspension is a two-year suspension, through early January of next year.
“We’ll look at all the signals we should do, about what we think may or may not affect the risks of real-world harm.”
