Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) issued a sharp rebuke Wednesday of tech giant Meta’s decision to restore former President Donald Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts, two years after he was banned from the platforms for his role in January. 6, 2021, insurrection.
Schiff accused Meta of putting profit before the public interest with the decision, which he called “inexplicable” and “tragic.”
“It represents, in my view, a total surrender and a withdrawal,” he told MSNBC’s “The ReidOut.” “The only reason I can see is a profit motive here.”
Schiff said Trump continued to violate Facebook policies in posts on his Truth Social platform, suggesting that the idea that he would have acted differently on Facebook was a delusion.
“You keep aiding and abetting those who have committed acts of insurrection, keep spreading the big lie,” Schiff told MSNBC’s Joy Reid about Trump’s false claims that the 2020 presidential election has were stolen.
Meta banned Trump’s account shortly after the riot at the Capitol on January 6, citing a threat to the peaceful transfer of power between the two presidents.
Although the company initially said it would suspend the account “indefinitely”, it later revised that decision, announcing it would review the ban in two years from January 7, 2021, after its independent supervisory board criticized the open nature of the suspension.
Trump’s campaign also wrote to Meta, requesting a meeting to discuss restoring his account, with Trump later telling Fox News Digital, “they need us more than we need them.”
Nick Clegg, chairman of meta global affairs, said on Wednesday that the former president would now face “tougher penalties for repeat offenders”.
“If Mr. Trump continues to post infringing content, he will be removed and suspended for one month to two years, depending on the severity of the violation,” Clegg said.
Twitter, which also removed Trump’s account after the Jan. 6 uprising, has already restored access to the former president after Elon Musk took over the company.
Trump has never tweeted before and has yet to post on Facebook or Instagram.
He further chose to rate Meta’s ad via Truth Social.
“This should never happen to a sitting president or anyone else who doesn’t deserve punishment!” he said.
Schiff served on the House Select Committee on Investigations on Jan. 6, which voted unanimously to refer four criminal charges against Trump to the Justice Department last month.
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