Trump Posts on Restored Facebook, YouTube Accounts

Commenters welcome former president back after suspensions
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 17, 2023 3:50 PM CDT
YouTube Lifts Restrictions on Trump's Channel
Former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event Monday, March 13, 2023, in Davenport, Iowa.   (AP Photo/Ron Johnson)

YouTube announced Friday that former President Donald Trump, for the first time in more than two years, is allowed to upload new videos. Later in the day, he did. Along with an "I'm back!" message, the AP reports, Trump shared an old video clip in which he says: "Sorry to keep you waiting. Complicated business." The former president made the same post to Facebook, his first since his suspension on that site ended last month. YouTube lifted its restrictions on Trump's account, which has more than 2.6 million followers, after more than two years, per Axios.

The suspension was implemented days after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. YouTube later said the decision would be reversed once the risk of more violence decreased. "We carefully evaluated the continued risk of real-world violence, balancing that with the importance of preserving the opportunity for voters to hear equally from major national candidates in the run up to an election," said Leslie Miller of YouTube on Friday. YouTube also took down videos on the Trump channel that violated its policies against inciting violence, which will not be restored now.

Comments on Trump's videos also were disabled; that's among the restrictions being removed. On Friday morning, commenters welcomed Trump back. Before the new post went up, the top video on autoplay Friday on Trump's YouTube account was from Dec. 2, 2020, in which he repeated debunked claims and conspiracy theories about the 2020 election for more than 45 minutes, per NPR. A month later, rioters stormed the building. Trump's Twitter account also was suspended, then restored. In addition, Trump now will be able to buy YouTube ads for his presidential campaign, assuming they don't violate company policy. This file has been updated with Trump's new posts. (More Donald Trump stories.)

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