SEATTLE: Facebook has lifted the ban imposed on Donald Trump after the January 6 attack on Capitol Hill ahead of the Presidential election.

The decision of the social media platform would place the former president on an equal footing with President Joe Biden.

The social media giant initially restricted the former president from using its platforms in 2021 after his supporters attacked the Capitol.

Facebook’s parent company, Meta, lifted that ban last year but said Trump would be subject to heightened suspension penalties if posts violated its standards.

Now, the company has lifted those restrictions, reasoning that while they were put in place in the extreme and extraordinary circumstances of the Capitol attack, Trump had not done anything to run afoul of them.

“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,” Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of global affairs wrote in a statement posted to the company’s website.

Clegg said that both Biden and Trump are still subject to the same standards that apply to all other users of the company.

Facebook, the world’s largest social media site, had been a publicity tool and a vital place to tap donations from supporters for both of Trump’s previous campaigns.  However, Trump, these days has been posting frequently on his own Truth Social site, which he started after Facebook and others suspended him.