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Donald Trump wants his Facebook account back
Photo: MARCO BELLO / REUTERS
Former US President Donald Trump has asked the online platform Facebook via a lawyer to release his account, which was blocked after the Capitol was stormed on January 6, 2021.
As the AFP news agency reported, his lawyer Scott Gast wrote in a letter to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg that became public on Wednesday: "The blocking of President Trump's account on Facebook has dramatically distorted and impeded public discourse." Trump should not be "gagged." be made.
"Donald J. Trump is a declared candidate for the office of US President," Gast continued in the letter dated Tuesday.
"He's the leading contender for the Republican nomination in numerous opinion polls."
Gast therefore insists on a meeting with the management of the Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta to talk about a "quick" restoration of Trump's user account on Facebook.
Facebook blocked the account after radical Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol, killing five.
The platform later set the duration of the ban at two years from the day of the ban on January 7, 2021.
At the end of this period, experts would check whether the “risk to public safety” had decreased.
Meta said on request that a decision should be announced "in the coming weeks".
On the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Meta Vice President Nick Clegg announced that the decision would be announced soon.
Twitter account reactivated
In addition to Facebook and Instagram, other online platforms blocked Trump's user accounts, citing fears of further violence.
Short message service Twitter lifted the ban in mid-November, a few weeks after it was taken over by technology entrepreneur Elon Musk.
Shortly before, Trump had announced that he would run again in the 2024 presidential election.
The ex-president, whose most important mouthpiece was Twitter, has not posted any new tweets as of Wednesday evening.
The 76-year-old said he wanted to focus on the online platform he founded, Truth Social.
However, Trump is far from reaching as broad a public via Truth Social as he once did via Twitter.
So far, his presidential bid has not developed the momentum he had hoped for.
Many Republicans want to enter the 2024 presidential race with a different candidate than the highly controversial ex-president.
dam/AFP