On Jan. 7, Facebook parent company Meta could decide to lift its suspension on former President Donald Trump. But Democratic lawmakers are urging the company to keep the suspension in place because Trump continues to falsely insist the 2020 election was stolen from him.
On Wednesday, four lawmakers, including Rep. Adam Schiff of California and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, sent a letter to Meta President for Global Affairs Nick Clegg, calling on the company to maintain the suspension.
“Trump has continued to post harmful election content on Truth Social that would likely violate Facebook’s policies, and we have every reason to believe he would bring similar conspiratorial rhetoric back to Facebook, if given the chance,” the lawmakers wrote.
Meta originally suspended Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts for his role in supporting the Jan. 6th riot at the Capitol Building. But last year, the company decided to impose the suspension for only two years—until Jan. 7, 2023.
The catch is that Meta could decide to extend the suspension if it determines that “there is still a serious risk to public safety” by allowing Trump to return. This could include factors such as "instances of violence, restrictions on peaceful assembly and other markers of civil unrest."
The Democratic lawmakers argue it’s clear that the former president remains a threat to US democratic systems, citing falsehoods Trump continues to spread about elections in the country.
“Two years later, we can see unequivocally that Trump is still spreading the Big Lie and thus undermining our democracy,” they wrote. “Indeed, he has expressed support for pardoning people involved in the January 6th attack on police, should he ever get the chance.”
Meta's Clegg has given no indication on which way the company will rule. But at an event in September, he reportedly said: “We’ll talk to the experts, we’ll talk to third parties, we will try to assess what we think the implications will be of bringing Trump back onto the platform.”
The company declined to offer any comment on the Democrats' letter to Clegg. However, a Meta spokesperson noted that if Trump returns to Facebook and Instagram, he could face another suspension if he flouts the rules.
"When the suspension is eventually lifted, there will be a strict set of rapidly escalating sanctions that will be triggered if Mr. Trump commits further violations in future, up to and including permanent removal of his pages and accounts," Meta said in June 2021.
The letter from Democratic lawmakers goes on to urge Meta to crack down on election denial rhetoric year-round, not simply during an election season. In the meantime, Twitter—under its new owner Elon Musk—has already reinstated Trump's account on the platform after it was also banned for Jan. 6-related posts. However, Trump has so far not posted to his Twitter account and continues to post on Truth Social.