• Trump's Facebook, Instagram accounts were suspended indefinitely.
• Ban imposed on Trump's social media accounts after Jan 6 attack.
• US presidential candidates are same as other users, Meta says.

Meta has lifted restrictions on United States presidential candidate Donald Trump's social media accounts, the tech giant owned by Mark Zuckerberg announced on Friday.

This move ends measures put in place after Trump's supporters violently stormed the US Capitol in 2021, AFP reported.

According to the announcement, "former President Trump, as the nominee of the Republican Party, will no longer be subject to the heightened suspension penalties."

After the 78-year-old former president's supporters attacked the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, his Facebook and Instagram accounts were suspended indefinitely and it was determined he had praised people engaged in violence on social media.

His accounts were reinstated in February 2023 but with a threat of penalties for future breaches — an additional restriction that Meta lifted on Friday.

"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," Meta wrote in a blog post.

The company added that US presidential candidates "remain subject to the same Community Standards as all Facebook and Instagram users, including those policies designed to prevent hate speech and incitement to violence."

Trump, the first former president to be convicted of a crime, was also banned from X and YouTube.

While those restrictions were later lifted last year, Trump now mainly communicates on his own social media platform, Truth Social.

His Facebook profile, which is followed by 34 million users, includes messages originally published on Truth Social as well as invitations to rallies and videos from his campaign.