Facebook Oversight Board Upholds Trump Ban For Now But Says Company Violated Their Own Rules

Facebook’s Oversight Board on Wednesday upheld the social network’s ban of former President Donald Trump’s ban but punted the final decision back to Facebook, The New York Times reports.

The Oversight Board, a panel of journalists, activists, and lawyers appointed by the social network, upheld the company’s decision to ban Trump but said it was “not appropriate for Facebook to impose the indeterminate and standardless penalty of indefinite suspension” because “Facebook’s normal penalties include removing the violating content, imposing a time-bound period of suspension, or permanently disabling the page and account.”

The board gave Facebook six months to “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.”

The board also recommended that the social network “implement in developing clear, necessary, and proportionate policies that promote public safety and respect freedom of expression.”

Trump lashes out:

Trump lashed out at Facebook and other tech giants in a statement following the decision.

“What Facebook, Twitter, and Google have done is a total disgrace and an embarrassment to our Country,” he said. “Free Speech has been taken away from the President of the United States because the Radical Left Lunatics are afraid of the truth, but the truth will come out anyway, bigger and stronger than ever before. The People of our Country will not stand for it!”

“These corrupt social media companies must pay a political price, and must never again be allowed to destroy and decimate our Electoral Process,” he added.

GOP threatens to punish Facebook:

A number of Republicans including former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, Indiana Rep. Jim Banks and others called for the federal government to take action against the social network, calling to “break them up.”

Lawmakers have floated targeting Facebook for antitrust violations or by revoking protections under Section 230 that say that online companies are not liable for posts on their platform as long as they take necessary steps to moderate certain content.

 

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