FOX Business’ Kelly O’Grady joins ‘Varney & Co.’ to weigh in on Meta’s controversial use of public social media posts to train artificial intelligence.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, announced that they will remove the longstanding restrictions placed on former President Trump’s accounts.
A Meta spokesperson confirmed to Fox News that the Big Tech giant will lift the bans placed on Trump’s Meta accounts that have been in place since Jan. 2021.
Meta said the restrictions on Trump’s social media will be lifted in “the coming weeks.”
META ANNOUNCES TRUMP TO BE REINSTATE ON FACEBOOK INSTAGRAM PLATFORMS
Former U.S. President Donald Trump leaves after speaking at a campaign rally at the Trump National Doral Golf Club on July 09, 2024 in Doral, Florida. Trump continues to campaign across the country. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images / Getty Images)
The change of heart came after Meta reassessed their “responsibility to allow political expression.”
“We believe that the American people should be able to hear from the nominees for President on the same basis,” the company announced in a release.
“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,” Meta said.
The apps Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp can be seen on the display of a smartphone in front of the logo of the Meta internet company. (Jens Büttner/picture alliance via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The tech giant noted that there would be “heightened penalties for repeat offenses,” like Trump, as part of a newly updated policy.
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If he violates the community guidelines again, Meta said that they would remove the violating posts and Trump could be suspended anywhere from a month to two years for the infraction.
A smartphone with Facebook’s logo is seen with new rebrand logo Meta. (Reuters/Dado Ruvic/Illustration / Reuters Photos)
Following the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot, Meta implemented their ban on Trump’s social media accounts, saying that he “praised” people who “engaged in violence.”
The decision drew backlash across the political spectrum and was the first time a sitting president was barred from Facebook.
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Following the ban, Trump created Truth Social, a social media site run by the Trump Media & Technology Group.
The campaign also created an X account as well as a Tik-Tok account that quickly amassed 7.6 million followers.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Trump campaign and Meta for comment.