Facebook Cuts ‘Indefinite’ Trump Suspension To A 2-Year Sentence

Former President Donald Trump could return to Facebook on Jan. 7, 2023.

Nick Clegg, Facebook’s vice president of global affairs, announced Friday that the company has cut short its “indefinite” ban on Trump, which was imposed after he used the platform to spread baseless claims of election fraud and incite the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. 

In its place, Facebook has implemented a conditional two-year ban.

Should Facebook determine Trump fit to return to the platform at the end of that ban, he’d be back just in time for the 2024 presidential election primaries. However, if “there is still a serious risk to public safety” at that time, Trump’s ban would be extended again, then reevaluated.

How Facebook intends to evaluate Trump’s risk to public safety isn’t exactly clear. Clegg said only that the decision would be based on “external factors, including instances of violence, restrictions on peaceful assembly and other markers of civil unrest.”

If Trump’s account were to be restored and he failed to meet the very basic demand of not posing a threat to public safety, Facebook said he would be met with “rapidly escalating sanctions,” including a potential permanent ban.