Meta lifts remaining restrictions on former US president Donald Trump

Social media giant Meta is lifting remaining restrictions on former US president Donald Trump ahead of his potential rematch with President Joe Biden in November's elections.

Trump was banned from major social media platforms in early 2021 after his supporters stormed the Capitol building in Washington, but had his accounts on Meta's Facebook and Instagram restored in 2023.

Meta said in a blog post on Friday that remaining "heightened suspension penalties" linked to Trump's repeated offences will be removed after his nomination as the Republican Party's presidential candidate at the party's national convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin next week.

"In assessing our responsibility to allow political expression, we believe that the American people should be able to hear from the nominees for President," the group said.

Nevertheless, Meta said the presidential candidates remain subject to its platforms' community standards, "including policies designed to prevent hate speech and incitement to violence."

Trump is no stranger to restrictions on Facebook and Instagram. He was banned for two years after using the platforms to incite supporters to attack the Capitol on January 6, 2021, with baseless allegations of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election.

Meta initially suspended Trump indefinitely, but its oversight board decided that the ban could only last for two years before being re-evaluated.