Former President Donald Trump was blocked by five of the major social media platforms over the years, but all but one have reinstated his accounts as he seeks reelection in 2024.
During his presidency, President Trump had all of his Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube accounts suspended following the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
“Since President Trump first ran for president, liberals at Big Tech have allowed terrorists and dictators to spew hate speech on their platforms while banning him in a brazen attempt to help Democrats win elections,” Republican National Committee spokesperson Anna Kelly told Fox News Digital in a statement. “This doesn’t work. President Trump’s message is resonating with voters across the country, which is why he ran the most successful TikTok launch in history. He will continue to speak directly to the American people about policies that will Make America Great Again.”
President Trump’s Snapchat account was suspended in 2021 after the outlet alleged that he committed “multiple policy violations.” The account has not been reinstated since.
Former President Trump during a campaign event at Trump National Doral Golf Club in Miami, Florida on July 9, 2024. (Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Asked why the profile couldn’t be restored after several years, a Snapchat spokesperson told Trump’s team that its terms of use meant it couldn’t restore the account.
The Trump War Room, an account working for former President Trump’s 2024 reelection campaign, slammed Snapchat in a post on X.
“Snapchat refused to reinstate President Trump’s account, then shamelessly asked the Trump Campaign to run ads on Snapchat. Big Tech is going all out for Kamala!” the Trump War Room wrote, along with screenshots of the exchange with Snapchat.
Snapchat’s terms of service reportedly do not allow users whose accounts have been suspended to create new accounts or reinstate their old ones.
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In the same message, a Snapchat spokesperson urged the Trump campaign to buy ads on the platform to reach “a key audience that can be persuaded to support Mr. Trump.”
The Instagram logo is displayed on a mobile phone on Oct. 14, 2022, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)
Mehta suspended Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts in 2021, only to reinstate them two years later.
“Two years ago, we took action under extreme and highly unusual circumstances when we indefinitely suspended the Facebook and Instagram accounts of then-U.S. President Donald Trump, who had praised those who committed the violent act at the Capitol on January 6, 2021,” Mehta said in a statement.
“We then referred the decision to our Oversight Committee, a specialized body established to provide independent checks and balances on our decision-making. The Committee supported the decision but criticized the vague timeline for the suspensions and the lack of clear criteria for when and if suspended accounts would be reinstated, and instructed it to reconsider the matter to determine a more appropriate response.”
President Trump also had his Twitter account suspended in 2021, but it was reinstated after Elon Musk bought the company.
YouTube said its decision to allow Trump back on the platform “was a careful assessment of the ongoing risk of real-world violence ahead of the election, while balancing the opportunity for voters to have an equal opportunity to hear from all major national candidates.”
Truth Social has suffered big losses. In this photo illustration, the logo is displayed on a smartphone with Donald J. Trump in the background. (Photo illustration: Jonathan Lahr/NurPhoto)
Musk recently suggested that Google’s autocomplete search feature was omitting results related to the assassination attempt on President Trump.
“Oh my goodness, Google has banned searches for Donald Trump,” Musk wrote. “Election interference?” A Google spokesperson told Fox Business that “no manual action was taken on these predictions.”
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After being blocked by several major US social media companies, Trump launched his own platform, Truth Social, where he frequently makes public statements about his 2024 presidential campaign.
Fox News’ Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.
