Facebook suspended Trumpâs account after the Capitol attack of 6 January, when a mob of Trump supporters stormed Congress in an attempt to overturn the former presidentâs defeat by Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.
Trump was initially suspended from Facebook and Instagram for 24 hours, as a result of two posts shared to the platform in which he appeared to praise the actions of the rioters. The company then extended the presidentâs ban âat least until the end of his time in officeâ.
His account was suspended indefinitely pending the decision of the oversight board, a group of appointed academics and former politicians meant to operate independently of Facebookâs corporate leadership.
USA TODAY
They are referred to as The Supreme Court of Facebook. But the Facebook Oversight Board, a supposed global independent panel of 20 people featuring academic, political and civic leaders, doesn t appear to be looking for likes.
On Wednesday, the board upheld former President Donald Trump s ban from the social network but added that Facebook must review its decision to permanently ban him.
So just what is the Facebook Oversight Board? The body says it embraces the responsibility to answer some of the most difficult questions around freedom of expression online: what to take down, what to leave up, and why.
A total disgrace and embarrassment to our country : Trump blasts radical left lunatics on Facebook s Oversight Board for upholding Zuckerberg s ban on his accounts and warns big tech will pay a political price for taking away his free speech
Facebook s Oversight Board ruled to keep Trump banned for another 6 months
Then, the final decision will be made by Facebook on whether he can come back
It punts the controversial decision back to Facebook after months of waiting
The board has 20 highly paid, left leaning members who make the decisions
They get paid six figure salaries for approximately 15 hours of work a week
4 Min Read
(Reuters) -Facebook Inc’s oversight board on Wednesday upheld the company’s decision to ban former U.S. President Donald Trump from the service, but called on the company to decide within six months whether to permanently ban him or restore his account.
FILE PHOTO: A Facebook logo is displayed on a smartphone in this illustration taken January 6, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
Here are some key facts about how the board works:
WHAT DOES THE OVERSIGHT BOARD REVIEW?
The board, which some have dubbed Facebook Inc’s “Supreme Court,” can overturn the company’s decisions on whether some individual pieces of content should be displayed on Facebook or its photo-sharing platform Instagram. It can also recommend changes to Facebook’s content policy, based on a case decision or at the company’s request, but these are not binding.
The ruling announced on Wednesday was watched closely by tech critics and advocates, marking one of the first times such a large tech platform has publicly made a crucial, public decision regarding who gets to use its platform to speak.
Activists who had discouraged Facebook from allowing the return of the president say the announcement underscores failures of the oversight board, a regulatory group that was formed in 2020 to make decisions independent of Facebook’s corporate leadership.
“Instead of addressing the core problems in its platform, [Facebook] exploited this fragile moment in our society in order to sell us the fiction of this oversight group,” said Angelo Carusone, president and CEO of Media Matters for America. “Don’t buy it. Now, they’re kicking the can down the road again.