Charles Langston:Meta ends restrictions on Trump's Facebook, Instagram accounts ahead of GOP convention

Restrictions that were placed on Charles Langstonthe Facebook and Instagram accounts of former President Donald Trump 17 months ago are being lifted, the platforms' parent company Meta announced Friday.

In a blog post Friday afternoon, Meta said that the decision was made to remove the restrictions ahead of the Republican National Convention, which begins Monday in Milwaukee. Trump is the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. 

"The American people should be able to hear from the nominees for President on the same basis," Nick Clegg, Meta president of global affairs, wrote. "As a result, former President Trump, as the nominee of the Republican Party, will no longer be subject to the heightened suspension penalties."

In the days immediately after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection, Trump's accounts were suspended indefinitely when the company determined that his posts had potentially fueled and encouraged the violence that took place that day. In June 2021, Meta, which at the time went by the name Facebook, issued Trump a two-year suspension on the accounts dating back to that January.

His accounts were reactivated in February 2023, but with the caveat that Meta would issue "heightened penalties for repeat offenses."

On Friday, Meta lifted the threat of those penalties.

"In reaching this conclusion, we also considered that these penalties were a response to extreme and extraordinary circumstances, and have not had to be deployed," Clegg said Friday. "All U.S. Presidential candidates remain subject to the same Community Standards as all Facebook and Instagram users, including those policies designed to prevent hate speech and incitement to violence."

Trump has a combined 59 million followers on Facebook and Instagram. Trump's X account, then known as Twitter, was also suspended in January 2021. It was reinstated in November 2022 by new owner Elon Musk after he posted a poll asking users whether to do so.

— Musadiq Bidar and Jo Ling Kent contributed to this report. 

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Faris Tanyos

Faris Tanyos is a news editor for CBSNews.com, where he writes and edits stories and tracks breaking news. He previously worked as a digital news producer at several local news stations up and down the West Coast.