Meta is considering letting former President Trump back on Facebook

Meta is considering letting former President Donald Trump back on Facebook after banning him for two years following the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. He could be back on the social media platform in a few weeks, if approved.

Facebook initially banned Trump from the platform on Jan. 7, 2021, the day after the Capitol riot. Mark Zuckerberg said at the time the president's use of the platform to condone — rather than condemn — the actions of his supporters at the Capitol "rightly disturbed people in the US and around the world."

Months later, in June, the former president was banned from Facebook for two years dating back to Jan. 7, without a guarantee that he would be allowed to return to the platform.

"At the end of this period, we will look to experts to assess whether the risk to public safety has receded," Nick Clegg, Facebook's vice president of global affairs, wrote in a blog post in June of 2021. "We will evaluate external factors, including instances of violence, restrictions on peaceful assembly and other markers of civil unrest."