Facebook and other social media platforms banned Trump in the aftermath of the January 6 attack. The bans were seen as necessary by tech executives, and indeed many on Capitol Hill, believing Trump could use its platforms to incite further violence.
But the unilateral decision on the part of companies like Facebook and Twitter troubled free speech advocates and other world leaders, who worried about the precedent it might set. The office of then German chancellor Angela Merkel called the bans "problematic," and Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny described it as "an act of censorship."
"It's a judgment call," acknowledges Katie Harbath, a former public policy director at Facebook. "It's very important to recognize that both of these decisions are going to have a ton of impactful consequences. And it would be foolish to think that either way is an easy decision," she told CNN. Harbath, now the CEO of Anchor Change, a tech policy consulting firm, has published a proposal for how Trump could return to the platform.
"There's been no shortage of hearing from him," she said. "It's not like because he hasn't been on Facebook or Twitter that he's had any trouble getting his message out or had any trouble making sure people know how he feels about things." Those parameters are too vague, said Nico Perrino, a free speech advocate and executive vice president at the civil liberties group Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression .
"It is the most important vehicle for fundraising and for reaching a lot of people in the persuadable audience," the adviser said. Despite his desire for a bigger megaphone and aides encouraging him to rejoin Twitter, Trump has said he is committed to Truth Social. Some in Trump's orbit say he is bound by an exclusivity agreement with Trump Media and Technology Group , the parent company of Truth Social, that could create legal trouble if he abandons his own social media platform for Twitter, Facebook, or an alternative.
"Ultimately, Trump is going to do what he wants to do," said one source close to the former President. "He'll figure out a way around any agreement."Meta's decision could act as a guidepost for other platforms that also suspended Trump in the wake of the January 6 attack, includingSnapchatandYouTube.
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