On the same day former President Donald Trump was reinstated on YouTube, he returned to Facebook with a simple declaration: “I’M BACK!”
The text accompanies a 12-second video showing Trump with then-Vice President Mike Pence after they were elected in 2016. “Sorry to keep you waiting. Complicated business. Complicated,” Trump says in the clip.
Trump’s first Facebook post in more than two years came hours after Alphabet Inc.’s GOOGL, +1.30% GOOG, +1.38% Google said it had lifted its restrictions on Trump’s YouTube channel, which boasts more than 2.6 million followers.
“Starting today, The Donald J. Trump channel is no longer restricted and the ability to upload new content is restored. 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. This channel will continue to be subject to our policies, just like any other channel on YouTube,” Leslie Miller, vice president of YouTube public policy, said in a statement.
As of Friday, Trump will be allowed to post videos on his channel as well as buy YouTube ads for his campaign, as long as they comply with YouTube’s ad policies.
YouTube suspended Trump’s account in January 2021, several days after the Jan. 6 insurrection, because the account had violated company policies for posting content that incited calls to violence.
Trump’s return to YouTube as he accelerates his 2024 presidential bid comes following decisions by Meta Platforms Inc.’s META, -4.55% Facebook, in January, and Elon Musk’s Twitter, in November, to reinstate the former president on those digital platforms.
Trump has yet to post on Instagram or Twitter, continuing to rely instead on his account on Truth Social, the social-media platform he launched in 2021.
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