Donald Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts have been restored after he was banned from the platforms in the wake of the deadly Capitol riots.
Users of Facebook can once again see the former US president’s page. His last post was made on Jan 6, 2021, when a mob of his supporters stormed the US Capitol building in a failed bid to overturn the presidential election results.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, confirmed it had restored Mr Trump’s access to both platforms on Thursday.
The move was expected as the company announced last month that it would lift Mr Trump’s suspension “in the coming weeks”.
However, it said it would institute penalties, such as a fixed-term suspension of between one month and two years, if he violated its content policies again.
Mr Trump has previously indicated he would not return to the platforms even if his suspension was lifted, opting to use his Truth Social platform instead.
The move restores Mr Trump’s access to millions of Americans for voter outreach ahead of another run for the White House in 2024.
He had 23 million followers on Instagram and 34 million on Facebook as of January.
Mr Trump also had his Twitter account reinstated by Elon Musk in November last year, after users of the social media site narrowly voted to bring the former president back.
