Alphabet-owned YouTube on Tuesday said it lifted the ban on former US President Donald Trump’s channel on January 6, 2021, after more than two years of suspension following the deadly Capitol Hill riots.

Meta Platforms restored Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts earlier this year, while his Twitter account was restored by new owner Elon Musk in November.

“We carefully assessed the continued risk of real-world violence before the election, balancing the opportunity for voters to hear equally from the major national candidates.” YouTube said in a doReferring to the move.

The video streaming platform banned Trump for violating its policy on inciting violence in 2021 after his supporters stormed the US Capitol when Congress began certifying Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential election.

Social media has been an important medium for reaching voters and fundraising and could boost Trump, who will make another run for the presidency in 2024. Trump has more than 2.6 million subscribers on YouTube, and another 34 million followers on Facebook and 23. million on instagram.

But the former president is yet to post on the Meta-owned platform or on Twitter. Instead he has stuck to his Truth Social platform, the social media platform he founded in late 2021, where he has nearly 5 million followers.

Opponents of Trump’s comeback point to messages posted on Truth Social as evidence that he continues to pose the same risk that led to the various social media platforms suspending him in the first place.

© Thomson Reuters 2023