Authors
Vasudha noticed the growing problem of mis/disinformation online after studying New Media at ACJ in Chennai and became interested in separating facts from fiction. She is interested in learning how global issues affect individuals on a micro level. Before joining Newschecker’s English team, she was working with Latestly.
Claim
Former US President Donald Trump, who is not new to controversies, has lately been in the news after Google barred his social network app, Truth Social, from its play store, citing that the app violated policies and required “effective systems for moderating user-generated content” in order to be offered on the platform.
Against the backdrop of the Google-Trump tiff, several social media users and a few news outlets claimed that Meta reinstated the former US President’s Facebook and Instagram accounts. Notably, Trump’s Meta accounts were suspended following the January 6, 2021 violence at the US Capitol.
In a report dated August 30, 2022, news outlet Free Press Journal claimed that Trump’s Facebook, Instagram accounts were reinstated. They also posted a tweet claiming the same.
Archived links to other such claims can be found here, here, here and here.
Fact
Newschecker began by conducting a keyword search for “Trump Facebook account reinstated” on Google, which yielded no relevant results, apart from the FPJ report on the same. However, we did come across a report by the Independent, dated August 16, 2022, with the title ‘Facebook won’t reinstate Trump’s account early – even if he runs for president.’
The article stated that Facebook says his (Trump) suspension will remain in place until January 7, 2023, when the company will decide if it can be safely reinstated. Nick Clegg, president of global affairs at Meta, was quoted as saying, “We’re going to stay on that timeline.”
Furthermore, responding to Newschecker’s query on the alleged restoration of Donald Trump’s account, a Meta spokesperson told us ”this news is not true.”
Old Hoax Resurfaces
A simple keyword search for “Donald Trump Facebook Instagram Reinstated” on Twitter led us to a post by @6NewsAU, dated June 3, 2021 captioned “Former US President Donald Trump’s Facebook & Instagram accounts have reportedly been reinstated (via @atrupar).”
Taking a cue, we looked up @atrupar’s profile on Twitter and found a tweet dated June 3, 2021, where he had clarified that Trump’s accounts were not reinstated. He had written, “Deleted tweets saying the status of Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts changed because apparently that’s not the case. I didn’t realize those pages remained live to commenters even after he was suspended. Facebook says nothing has changed & he’s still indefinitely suspended.”
Additionally, in the comment section of the now-deleted tweet by @atrupa, we found a reply by Meta executive Andy Stone, dated June 3, 2021, saying, “No. Nothing about the status of President Trump’s presence on our platform has changed. He remains indefinitely suspended.”
We can thus conclude that former US President Donald Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts have not been reinstated, as of yet.
Result: False
Sources
Report By Independent, Dated August 16, 2022
E-Mail Correspondence With Meta
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Authors
Vasudha noticed the growing problem of mis/disinformation online after studying New Media at ACJ in Chennai and became interested in separating facts from fiction. She is interested in learning how global issues affect individuals on a micro level. Before joining Newschecker’s English team, she was working with Latestly.
