YouTube reinstates Trump's account ahead of 2024 campaign
Washington — YouTube on Friday lifted restrictions on former President Donald Trump's account that have been in place since the weeks after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. Hours later, Trump posted on Facebook for the first time since January 2021.
Trump could begin uploading new content for his 2.65 million YouTube subscribers on the platform as of Friday, the company said. For the last two years, Trump had been prevented from uploading new videos for violating the platform's policies on inciting violence.
"We carefully evaluated the continued risk of real-world violence, while balancing the chance for voters to hear equally from major national candidates in the run up to an election," YouTube said in a statement. "This channel will continue to be subject to our policies, just like any other channel on YouTube."
The decision means the former president's accounts on three major social media platforms have been restored ahead of the 2024 election. Twitter and Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, both suspended Trump's accounts after Jan. 6 and have restored them in recent months.
On Friday, the former president posted on Facebook for the first time since he was allowed back on the platform last month.
"I'M BACK," he wrote, posting an old video clip of himself alongside former Vice President Mike Pence and Trump's son, Barron.
Trump, who has tens of millions of followers on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, has, up to now, stuck to his own social network, Truth Social.