Facebook is keeping its ban on former President Donald Trump in place for the 2022 midterm elections, saying January is the earliest the social media company would allow his return.
Mr. Trump was barred from Facebook and Instagram, which both operate as part of the Meta company, following the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. The company later extended the restrictions on his account.
Meta president Nick Clegg told Politico his company would maintain the timeline for revisiting the ban in January rather than lift it before the November elections.
In June 2021, Mr. Clegg said Meta was enacting a two-year ban retroactive from Jan. 7 against Mr. Trump’s accounts, which marked January 2023 as the earliest the former president may regain access.
Mr. Trump has not waited for the social media company to permit his return but formed his own social platform Truth Social.
Other tech companies such as Twitter and Google’s YouTube have also restricted Mr. Trump’s access, with Twitter enacting a permanent ban.
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Mr. Trump agreed to limit his social media usage to put Truth Social first regardless of whether Facebook, Twitter or others restore his access, according to a regulatory filing from May.
The paperwork filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from Mr. Trump’s business partners said he must first post on Truth Social and then wait six hours before publishing elsewhere with exceptions for messages about political fundraising, get-out-the-vote efforts and other political messages.
• Ryan Lovelace can be reached at rlovelace@washingtontimes.com.
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