Facebook announced Friday that former President Donald Trump s accounts will be suspended for two years, freezing his presence on the social network until early 2023 following a finding that Trump stoked violence ahead of the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol.
The Lawfare Podcast: India v. Platforms
Tensions between major social media platforms and the Indian government have reached a new high. In recent months, India has demanded that Twitter remove a range of content critical of the government and has even sent police to Twitter’s offices in New Delhi in what Twitter has called “intimidation tactics”. The government recently instituted new rules that exert strong control over how companies operating in India govern their platforms rules that have already prompted a legal challenge from Whatsapp in Indian court.
On today’s episode of the
Lawfare Podcast s Arbiters of Truth series on our online information ecosystem, Evelyn Douek and Quinta Jurecic spoke with Nikhil Pahwa to put these latest clashes between platforms and the Indian government in context. Nikhil is a technology journalist and digital rights activist and the founder of the Indian technology publication MediaNama and he’s been watching this story closely. What
AP Technology Writers
FILE - In this April 14, 2020 file photo, the thumbs up Like logo is shown on a sign at Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif. Facebook s oversight board, which on Wednesday, May 5, 2021 upheld the company’s ban of former President Donald Trump, also had some harsh words for its corporate sponsor: Facebook. But critics aren t convinced this decision is a triumph of accountability, and say its actions may actually distract from more fundamental issues that Facebook seems less interested in talking about. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)
Facebook’s oversight board, which on Wednesday upheld the company’s ban of former President Donald Trump, also had some harsh words for the company. Calling Facebook’s indefinite ban of Trump a “vague, standardless penalty,” the board accused Facebook its corporate sponsor of seeking to “avoid its responsibilities” by asking its quasi-independent oversight group to resolve the issue.
by Barbara Ortutay and Matt O Brien, AP Technology Writers May 7, 2021 .
Facebook’s oversight board, which on Wednesday upheld the company’s ban of former President Donald Trump, also had some harsh words for the company. Calling Facebook’s indefinite ban of Trump a “vague, standardless penalty,” the board accused Facebook its corporate sponsor of seeking to ”avoid its responsibilities” by asking its quasi-independent oversight group to resolve the issue.
But critics aren’t convinced that the board’s decision represents a triumph of independence or accountability. Many, in fact, see its narrow focus on one-off content issues as a distraction from deeper problems such as Facebook’s massive power, its shadowy algorithms that can amplify hate and misinformation, and more serious and complicated questions about government regulation.