Digital Democracy Decisions: Valid Banning of Trump, Short-Term Strategy

The Facebook Oversight Board has reviewed Facebook’s suspension of former-President Donald Trump from the platform. And although the decision was upheld, the Board has stated that Facebook must review the suspension as it wasn’t a proper penalty.

The Oversight Board Rules on Facebook’s Trump Suspension

Facebook suspended Trump from the platform on January 7, 2021, for comments he made with regard to the Capitol incident on January 6. In particular, the comments Facebook took action over were “We love you. You’re very special,” “great patriots,” and “remember this day forever” across two posts.

Read More:Facebook and Instagram Indefinitely Ban Trump’s Account

Specifically, Facebook found that these comments violated its policies on prohibiting praise or support of people engaged in violence. At the time, Facebook said it would suspend Trump’s account “indefinitely” but “for at least two weeks until the transition of power is complete”.

The Oversight Board decided in its ruling that Trump’s comments severely violated Facebook’s Community Standards. It further said that Facebook was justified in the action given the seriousness of the violations and ongoing risk of violence. And Facebook’s decision was upheld.

However, the Board decided that it was not appropriate for Facebook to impose an indefinite suspension.

Since the ruling, there has been a large amount of backlash on social media regarding the decision. Users on both sides of the argument have mentioned that the ruling was not right, either because they believe Trump shouldn’t have been banned in the first place, or because he shouldn’t be allowed back on Facebook.

What Are the Next Steps for Facebook?

Since The Oversight Board ruled that an indefinite suspension was not appropriate, it has told Facebook that it must reassess the decision. The Board has decided this after evaluating that suspending any user for an indefinite amount of time didn’t follow any procedure.

Within six months, Facebook needs to reassess the suspension, and decide on a more appropriate penalty. The Oversight Board has said that the penalty needs to be based on the “gravity of the violation” and “prospect of future harm”.

Facebook now needs to decide on another penalty for Trump. The company needs to apply its rules and the Board’s recommendations in this decision, whether it decides to remove or restore his account.

The Oversight Board also made a number of other recommendations for Facebook, such as reviewing the platform’s role in the events of January 6th, and creating policies on Facebook’s response to any similar events in the future.

What Is The Oversight Board?

The Facebook Oversight Board is a body of experts that will review “difficult and significant decisions” that the social network makes. Essentially, the Board exists to make sure Facebook doesn’t break any rules or laws in its decision-making.

Facebook did set up and fund the Board, but it is an independent body with no Facebook employees involved. The Board has the power to make binding decisions. Members of the public can appeal decisions to the Board.

What About Other Social Media Platforms?

Other notable social media sites such as Twitter also suspended Trump for the same reason as Facebook. Twitter has gone as far as to ban Trump from the platform forever .

The Oversight Board’s ruling on Trump’s suspension from the platform applies only to Facebook. No other sites are bound by the decisions, so it remains unclear if any other social media platforms will reconsider Trump’s ban.