Oversight Board Upholds Trump’s Facebook Suspension

*Social media group’s ‘supreme court’ calls for review of
former president’s indefinite ban from platform

Donald Trump will remain blocked from Facebook after a ruling
from the company’s independent oversight board that is likely to
spark a fierce backlash from Republicans.

The decision will continue to deprive the former president of a
vital mouthpiece, but Facebook must review within the next six
months whether the freeze should stay in place permanently, the
panel decided.

The social media platform suspended Trump’s account indefinitely
four months ago over fears he could stir further violence and
unrest following the storming of the Capitol by a mob of the 45th
president’s supporters on January 6.

“We believe the risks of allowing the president to continue to
use our service during this period are simply too great,” Facebook
chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said at the time.

Later in January, Facebook asked its oversight board — a Supreme
Court-style body first appointed in 2020 that hears appeals from
users on its content moderation decisions — to review the ban, as
well as provide more general recommendations about how the platform
should treat rule-breaking content from world leaders.

On Wednesday, the board said it had upheld the decision to
restrict the former president’s account. However, it said that
chief executive Mark Zuckerberg’s decision to ban Trump
“indefinitely” was an “indeterminate and standardless penalty”.

It added: “The Board insists that Facebook review this matter to
determine and justify a proportionate response that is consistent
with the rules that are applied to other users of its platform.
Facebook must complete its review of this matter within six months
of the date of this decision.”

In a blog post, Facebook’s vice-president of global affairs and
communications, Nick Clegg, reiterated that the company believed
that the decision to suspend Trump was “necessary and right”,
saying: “We’re pleased the board has recognised that the
unprecedented circumstances justified the exceptional measure we
took.”

But he added that “the board criticised the open-ended nature of
the suspension”. Trump’s accounts will remain suspended while the
company reviews its response, he said.

It remains unclear whether Trump, once an obsessive user of
social media with more than 35m followers on Facebook and 24m on
Instagram, will be able to regain access to a powerful channel for
energising his supporters and raking in fundraising dollars. The
former president has not ruled out running again for the White
House in 2024.

The ruling, which effectively passes the buck back to the
company to decide Trump’s ultimate fate, marked the biggest test to
date of Facebook’s 20-member oversight board, made up of academics,
civil rights groups and experts across the political spectrum. The
board, which is funded by Facebook but otherwise independent from
the company, has the final say on moderation decisions at a time of
bipartisan support for tougher regulation of big tech in the
US.

The ruling is likely to be divisive. Civil rights groups have
urged Facebook to ban the former president permanently, arguing the
social media platform bent its own rules to accommodate him and
appease Republicans. Others have argued that the treatment of Trump
by Facebook amounts to censorship and a dangerous curb on free
speech, and illustrates the unwieldy power the company has
amassed.

Facebook rival Twitter banned Trump permanently in January.
Google’s YouTube has suspended the former president from the video
platform but chief executive Susan Wojcicki said it would lift the
freeze once “the risk of violence has decreased”.

The former president has kept a relatively low profile since
leaving the White House in late January and snubbed Joe Biden’s
inauguration. He has made few public appearances and participated
in only a handful of interviews, mostly with Fox News.

He has continued to repeat some of the unproven claims of
election fraud that contributed to his bans. He issued several
statements on Monday alone through his Save America political
action committee, including: “The Fraudulent Presidential Election
of 2020 will be, from this day forth, known as THE BIG LIE!” Trump
has also touted the possibility that he might create his own social
network.

Facebook’s oversight board: who they are and what
they do
What is the oversight board?

The Facebook Oversight board was created to “review a
selected number of highly emblematic” content moderation decisions
and determine if those were “made in accordance with Facebook’s
stated values and policies”. It is funded by a $130m trust set up
by Facebook and launched last year.

Users can appeal to the board against takedowns of content
or call for a review of content they think has wrongfully been
allowed to remain on the platform. Facebook can also recommend
cases — which is what happened in the Trump scenario.

The board can also offer broad policy recommendations to
Facebook, although the social media company is not bound to follow
them.

Who are they?

The board is made up of 20 academics, human rights and free
speech experts and journalists who were selected by Facebook but
operate independently. Members include former Guardian newspaper
editor Alan Rusbridger, Nobel laureate Tawakkol Karman and former
Danish prime minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt.

An anonymous sub-selection of board members are tasked with
coming to an initial decision on a case, with which a majority of
the board must agree.

What did they decide on Wednesday?

The board will announce whether it will uphold Trump’s
suspension. It has also been asked to advise how to approach the
suspension of world leaders generally, at a time when figures such
as Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Brazilian president Jair
Bolsonaro and Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines have faced
scrutiny for their social media use.

The board’s bylaws allow for a 90-day window to reach a
conclusion on a case and an additional week for Facebook to take
action. The decision on the Trump case was delayed after the board
received some 9,000 responses to its call for comments. Trump has
also submitted a “user statement” to the board detailing why he
thinks the decision should be overturned.

*Social media group’s ‘supreme court’ calls for review of
former president’s indefinite ban from platform

Donald Trump will remain blocked from Facebook after a ruling
from the company’s independent oversight board that is likely to
spark a fierce backlash from Republicans.

The decision will continue to deprive the former president of a
vital mouthpiece, but Facebook must review within the next six
months whether the freeze should stay in place permanently, the
panel decided.

The social media platform suspended Trump’s account indefinitely
four months ago over fears he could stir further violence and
unrest following the storming of the Capitol by a mob of the 45th
president’s supporters on January 6.

“We believe the risks of allowing the president to continue to
use our service during this period are simply too great,” Facebook
chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said at the time.

Later in January, Facebook asked its oversight board — a Supreme
Court-style body first appointed in 2020 that hears appeals from
users on its content moderation decisions — to review the ban, as
well as provide more general recommendations about how the platform
should treat rule-breaking content from world leaders.

On Wednesday, the board said it had upheld the decision to
restrict the former president’s account. However, it said that
chief executive Mark Zuckerberg’s decision to ban Trump
“indefinitely” was an “indeterminate and standardless penalty”.

It added: “The Board insists that Facebook review this matter to
determine and justify a proportionate response that is consistent
with the rules that are applied to other users of its platform.
Facebook must complete its review of this matter within six months
of the date of this decision.”

In a blog post, Facebook’s vice-president of global affairs and
communications, Nick Clegg, reiterated that the company believed
that the decision to suspend Trump was “necessary and right”,
saying: “We’re pleased the board has recognised that the
unprecedented circumstances justified the exceptional measure we
took.”

But he added that “the board criticised the open-ended nature of
the suspension”. Trump’s accounts will remain suspended while the
company reviews its response, he said.

It remains unclear whether Trump, once an obsessive user of
social media with more than 35m followers on Facebook and 24m on
Instagram, will be able to regain access to a powerful channel for
energising his supporters and raking in fundraising dollars. The
former president has not ruled out running again for the White
House in 2024.

The ruling, which effectively passes the buck back to the
company to decide Trump’s ultimate fate, marked the biggest test to
date of Facebook’s 20-member oversight board, made up of academics,
civil rights groups and experts across the political spectrum. The
board, which is funded by Facebook but otherwise independent from
the company, has the final say on moderation decisions at a time of
bipartisan support for tougher regulation of big tech in the
US.

The ruling is likely to be divisive. Civil rights groups have
urged Facebook to ban the former president permanently, arguing the
social media platform bent its own rules to accommodate him and
appease Republicans. Others have argued that the treatment of Trump
by Facebook amounts to censorship and a dangerous curb on free
speech, and illustrates the unwieldy power the company has
amassed.

Facebook rival Twitter banned Trump permanently in January.
Google’s YouTube has suspended the former president from the video
platform but chief executive Susan Wojcicki said it would lift the
freeze once “the risk of violence has decreased”.

The former president has kept a relatively low profile since
leaving the White House in late January and snubbed Joe Biden’s
inauguration. He has made few public appearances and participated
in only a handful of interviews, mostly with Fox News.

He has continued to repeat some of the unproven claims of
election fraud that contributed to his bans. He issued several
statements on Monday alone through his Save America political
action committee, including: “The Fraudulent Presidential Election
of 2020 will be, from this day forth, known as THE BIG LIE!” Trump
has also touted the possibility that he might create his own social
network.

Facebook’s oversight board: who they are and what
they do
What is the oversight board?

The Facebook Oversight board was created to “review a
selected number of highly emblematic” content moderation decisions
and determine if those were “made in accordance with Facebook’s
stated values and policies”. It is funded by a $130m trust set up
by Facebook and launched last year.

Users can appeal to the board against takedowns of content
or call for a review of content they think has wrongfully been
allowed to remain on the platform. Facebook can also recommend
cases — which is what happened in the Trump scenario.

The board can also offer broad policy recommendations to
Facebook, although the social media company is not bound to follow
them.

Who are they?

The board is made up of 20 academics, human rights and free
speech experts and journalists who were selected by Facebook but
operate independently. Members include former Guardian newspaper
editor Alan Rusbridger, Nobel laureate Tawakkol Karman and former
Danish prime minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt.

An anonymous sub-selection of board members are tasked with
coming to an initial decision on a case, with which a majority of
the board must agree.

What did they decide on Wednesday?

The board will announce whether it will uphold Trump’s
suspension. It has also been asked to advise how to approach the
suspension of world leaders generally, at a time when figures such
as Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Brazilian president Jair
Bolsonaro and Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines have faced
scrutiny for their social media use.

The board’s bylaws allow for a 90-day window to reach a
conclusion on a case and an additional week for Facebook to take
action. The decision on the Trump case was delayed after the board
received some 9,000 responses to its call for comments. Trump has
also submitted a “user statement” to the board detailing why he
thinks the decision should be overturned.