Meta announced on Friday that it will be lifting restrictions on Donald Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts. The company stated that this move aims to create a more level playing field ahead of the 2024 election.

In a statement reported by Axios, Meta’s president of global affairs, Nick Clegg, said “In assessing our responsibility to allow political expression, we believe that the American people should be able to hear from the nominees for president on the same basis… In reaching this conclusion, we also considered that these penalties were a response to extreme and extraordinary circumstances, and have not had to be deployed.”

BREAKING: Meta removes restrictions on Trump's Facebook and Instagram accounts—‘In assessing our responsibility to allow political expression, we believe that the American people should be able to hear from the nominees for president on the same basis’https://t.co/QNDt0FLmHf

— Larry Elder (@larryelder) July 12, 2024

“With the party conventions taking place shortly, including the Republican convention next week, the candidates for President of the United States will soon be formally nominated,” Clegg added.

Since Trump’s accounts were reinstated in 2023, they faced potential penalties for any rule violations on the platform. These restrictions limited the reach of his accounts during periods of civil unrest, a unique measure applied solely to Trump’s social media, according to a company spokesperson. However, Trump’s accounts did not incur any penalties during the restriction period.

Following the events of January 6, Meta and other social media platforms banned Trump. These bans led to the creation of Truth Social, which Trump now uses more frequently than other platforms. After Elon Musk acquired Twitter, Trump was reinstated but has only posted once on the platform, now called X, sharing his mugshot from Fulton County Jail in Georgia.

Per Axios, “Meta’s move is part of a broader effort by Big Tech companies to revisit policies put in place during extraordinary circumstances that they may feel no longer apply.”