Donald
Trump’s comments will no longer be fact-checked on Facebook now that the former
president has announced a re-run in the 2024 US elections, CNN reported citing
a company memo. While the 45th President of the United States is
banned on the platform since the January 6, 2021 Capitol riots, the fact-check
applies to comments made by him and posted by others on the platform. Team
Trump, a Facebook page run by his team, is present on the platform and has
nearly 2.3 million followers.

According
to Meta’s factcheck policy, “political speech is ineligible for factchecking”.
Meta re-iterated the policy after third-party factcheckers whom Meta employs
wondered how Trump’s comments will be viewed on the platform after he announces
his candidature for 2024.

Also Read | Trump echoes ‘American carnage’ address in presidential re-run speech

Political
speech, in Meta’s definition, includes words a politician says, including
pictures, videos, or any other content clearly labelled as created by a politician
or their campaign.

Meta’s policy
does not require politicians to be registered with the Federal Election
Commission to obtain the factcheck holiday. “We define a ‘politician’ as
candidates running for office, current office holders – and, by extension, many
of their cabinet appointees – along with political parties and their leaders,”
the memo stated.

Also Read | Donald Trump announces bid for presidency in 2024. Full speech

“If former
President Trump makes a clear, public announcement that he is running for
office, he would be considered a politician under our program policies,” the
memo concluded.

Donald Trump
announced his candidature for presidency in Florida on Tuesday evening.

“America’s
comeback starts now,” Trump said while making the announcement, later adding: “In
order to make America great and glorious again, I am tonight announcing my
candidacy for president of the United States.”

Meta’s
factchecking policy has recurrently come under criticism from both Republicans
and Democrats. While Democrat’s say Mark Zuckerberg’s company does not go far
enough to curb false speech, Republicans say it goes too far.