With the decision by Meta and Twitter to reinstate Trump’s account, it is now almost certain that he will return to mainstream social media. In a recent post on his own social media platform, Truth Social, Trump wrote about his ‘deplatforming’ from Facebook and stated that such a thing should never happen again. Unfortunately, Trump has not changed during his social media exile; instead, he has grown more extreme. So, what comes next after Trump’s return to social media?
Trump’s social media exile
Trump’s Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts were suspended following the Capitol riots on January 6, 2021.
However, he became active on Telegram and now has nearly 800,000 subscribers.
He introduced his social media website, Truth Social, in February 2022, and now has 4.8 million followers on that platform.
Trump has been sharing hundreds of posts from these accounts promoting QAnon ideas that falsely claim that the world is run by a cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophiles.
Besides, he has continued to falsely insist that the 2020 election was stolen and that he is a victim of corrupt federal law enforcement agencies. And he has made personal attacks against his many perceived enemies.
“It’s not that Trump has meaningfully changed the way he behaves online. In fact, he’s grown more extreme,” said Jared Holt, a researcher at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, to The New York Times.
Reinstatement controversy
Donald Trump has a large following on social media platforms, with 88 million followers on Twitter, 34 million on Facebook, and 23 million on Instagram. These numbers demonstrate that Trump is a valuable asset for the large social platforms.
The President of Color of Change, Rashad Robinson, informed The New York Times that Facebook profits from Trump despite publicly condemning him.
He considers Trump’s significant following to be a reason for Facebook’s decision to allow him back on the platform.
However, Meta claims to have implemented new measures to prevent repeat offenses by Trump.
Return to social media
Trump’s probable return to major social media platforms raises the prospect that he will carry over his more radicalized behavior to a far wider audience on these platforms.
“I don’t think anybody should reasonably expect him to be any different if he’s back on Facebook and Twitter. And when it comes to spreading conspiracy theories, Trump is the big tuna,” told Jared Holt to The New York Times.
Critical background
Meta and Twitter suspended Trump’s accounts a day after a mob of his supporters stormed the Capitol and disrupted the congressional count of electoral votes to confirm Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential win.
Many of these attackers later admitted in federal court that they were whipped up by Trump’s lies of a stolen election.
