THE majority of Facebook users believe Donald Trump should be allowed to be back on the platform after he was banned over the January Capitol riots, a poll shows.
While Facebook is contemplating whether to permanently ban the former President, an online poll shows people think the current ban should be lifted.
The survey of 11,698 respondents by Yahoo Financefound that over 50 per cent of people think Trump should be allowed back on Facebook while 44 per cent say he should be banned permanently.
The remaining suggested alternative options, including lifting the ban with a warning that future violations will result in permanent ban.
However, from a political point of view, of the 2,546 self-described Republicans, 77 per cent said the ban should be lifted.
48 per cent of the 5,802 independents agreed while the majority of the 2,162 Democrats, 75 per cent said the existing ban should stay in place.
According to the survey 78 per cent of Democrats and 50 per cent of independents, felt Facebook took too long in banning Trump, with only 25 per cent of Republicans agreeing.
When it came to whether Facebook should be able to ban elected officials, users were divided- 50 per cent were in favor of banning politicians and 50 per cent opposed.
73 per cent of Republicans said Facebook shouldn’t be able to ban politicians while 80 per cent of Democrats disagreed.
Independents were split with 51 per cent in favor of the ban and 48 per cent against.
Former President Donald Trump had his Facebook and Twitter accounts suspended after his supporters stormed the Capitol building on January 6 protesting Joe Biden's election win.
On January 22, Facebook launched an independent investigation to determine whether it was right to ban Trump.
The Oversight Board, consists of policy experts, scholars and journalists who review Facebook moderation decisions.
Earlier this month Trump's senior advisor Jason Miller said the former president will return to a "non-mainstream" platform by the spring ahead of a reported 2024 White House run.
He told Mediate's The Interview podcast that Trump has had conversations "with both existing social media platforms and also potentially with some brand new platforms".
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