Topline

Social media users circulated photos Wednesday of former President Donald Trump’s dormant Facebook and Instagram pages, claiming his accounts were reinstated after a months-long ban, but in reality, Facebook says Trump’s ban is still in effect and hasn’t changed.

Key Facts

Scores of Twitter users noticed Trump’s old Facebook and Instagram posts are still visible, and interpreted this to mean his accounts were quietly restored.

However, Facebook Policy Communications Director Andy Stone tweeted Trump is still indefinitely suspended from the platform, and company spokesperson Brandi Hoffine Barr told Forbes “nothing has changed” regarding his account.

When Facebook took away Trump’s posting privileges in January, the company didn’t wipe his entire page off the site: His old pre-ban posts have remained visible and still rack up comments from his supporters, turning his Facebook page into what the Los Angeles Times described last month as a “weird internet memorial.”

Key Background

Facebook, Twitter, and virtually every other major social media platform indefinitely banned Trump shortly after a mob of his supporters stormed into the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg warned Trump could use social media to incite political violence and undermine a peaceful transfer of power. Facebook’s independent oversight board upheld this decision last month, finding Trump violated the social network’s rules by posting approvingly about the Jan. 6 rioters. Since then, Trump has struggled to communicate with his supporters, and has resorted to sending out press releases to reporters, giving occasional interviews to conservative TV networks and launching — and later shutting down — a blog.