Board tells Facebook to rule on Trump ban
Facebook must decide whether to allow Donald Trump back online within six months, its oversight board ruled yesterday, as the former president branded the social network “a total disgrace”. The board, which is funded by Facebook and includes Alan Rusbridger, the former Guardian editor, said the company was right to suspend Mr Trump after his supporters stormed the US Capitol in January. But it criticised the “arbitrary” punishment of an indefinite suspension.
FACEBOOK must decide whether to allow Donald Trump back online within six months, its oversight board ruled yesterday, as the former president branded the social network “a total disgrace”.
The oversight board, which is funded by the social network to act as a Supreme Court-style check on its moderation decisions, said the company was right to suspend Mr Trump after his supporters stormed the US Capitol in January. But it heavily criticised Facebook’s “arbitrary” punishment of an indefinite suspension and ordered Facebook to decide a new remedy within six months, opening the door to Mr Trump’s account being restored.
It also excoriated Facebook for attempting to dodge responsibility over Mr Trump’s case and for failing to apply the same clear rules to the former president as it applies to any other users.
The oversight board’s ruling pushes the responsibility for Mr Trump’s account back to Facebook, at a time of fierce debate over the power of social media companies to police political leaders’ speech.
Mr Trump issued a standard broadside in a statement following the ruling yesterday, saying Facebook, Twitter and Google’s behaviour was “a total disgrace” and the companies “must pay a political price”.
“Free Speech has been taken away from the President of the United States because the Radical Left Lunatics are afraid of the truth,” he said.
The criticisms were echoed by Republicans in Congress, who vowed to act to reign in “big tech power over our speech”. Meanwhile Steny Hoyer, the Democratic House majority leader, said the ruling showed “Facebook is not the public square”.
The White House also appeared to weigh in on the issue yesterday when it said social media platforms have a responsibility to “stop amplifying untrustworthy content”.
Facebook’s global PR and lobbying chief Sir Nick Clegg said Mr Trump would remain suspended while the company considered a “clear and proportionate” next course of action.
The company suspended Mr Trump from Facebook and Instagram and removed his posts in support of the violent mob that stormed the Capitol on Jan 6. At the time, the company’s chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said it had taken the extraordinary step because Mr Trump had used the platform “to incite violent insurrection against a democratically elected government”.
Facebook later referred the case to its oversight board – a largely independent panel of 20 journalists, politicians and judges from across the globe – which Mr Zuckerberg has described as a social media “Supreme Court”.
While Facebook is not legally bound by the board, it has publicly committed to honour its rulings about specific decisions. A permanent ban could severely hamper Mr Trump’s ability to fundraise for a potential second presidential run in 2024, as well as Congress midterm elections next autumn.
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