Democrats are reportedly increasing pressure on Meta to keep Donald Trump off of Facebook. The news comes as the company is deciding whether to reinstate the former President’s account.
Facebook originally suspended Trump’s account after the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the Capitol. The platform could welcome him back as early as next month.
Democratic lawmakers fear Trump’s return to the platform would threaten public safety by the spread of misinformation.
Kayla Gogarty, deputy research director of Media Matters for America, says that his presence would increase “extremism” and “problematic content.”
“On Facebook, he has a very large reach,” Gogarty told Insider. “Based on his current patterns, we’re seeing him amplify extremism, problematic content that has been linked to real world violence.”
Gogarty continued: “So if Meta allows him back on, it’s essentially giving Trump a green light to push election misinformation again, dangerous rhetoric and extremism to millions of users who would not otherwise have access to it.”
While he’s been inactive on Facebook, Trump has migrated his presence to Truth Social. As for whether his behavior online has changed, Media Matters reports that nearly half of Trump’s posts and reposts in the week following the 2022 midterm elections pushed election fraud conspiracies.
“His activity on Truth Social speaks to his potential activity if he’s allowed back on some of these more mainstream platforms, like Facebook,” Gogarty further said.
Trump’s potential Facebook reinstatement comes after Elon Musk allowed him back on Twitter. In doing so, Musk conducted a poll among users on the platform. Despite this, Trump has opted to stay on Truth Social.
[Via]