The top dogs at Facebook are set to announce its ruling on former President Trump’s indefinite ban from the social media platform Wednesday morning. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerburg announced the former President was banned from the platform following the Jan. 6th Capitol riot. The Oversight Board is an independent body whose decisions Facebook has “pledged to comply.”
According to The Washington Free Beacon:
The board’s decision may have a cascading effect on other platforms that banned Trump, such as Twitter, YouTube, and Snapchat. Oversight Board cochair and former Danish prime minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt has said she hopes the Oversight Board will be so successful that other social media platforms use its decisions to guide their own content moderation.
In addition to issuing a binding decision on this specific case, the board will also make nonbinding suggestions for broader policies on public figures. Facebook has adjusted its rules in the past based on Trump’s behavior. In 2015, after keeping up a video from then-candidate Trump calling for a ban on Muslims entering the United States, Facebook announced a “newsworthiness” exception, which allows for posts that violate its policies if they have news value.
In a recent interview with the Washington Free Beacon, board member Michael McConnell avoided speaking specifically about the Trump case but emphasized that one of the board’s major goals is to outline clear rules for moderating the speech of public figures.
Some observers have expressed concern that, even if the board rules that Trump must be allowed back on the platform, Facebook will use other tools to shape political discourse. In a recent interview, tech mogul and Facebook board member Peter Thiel warned that “the real problem” is the “downranking” of content Facebook finds objectionable, so that it is posted but users see it less often.
Once the Oversight Board issues its ruling neither Trump nor Facebook has any way to appeal the decision. The platform has been harshly scrutinized for its ban on the former president along with banning any photos or audio of him. Recently, an interview between Trump and his daughter-in-law Lara Trump was removed from the platform for violating the terms of the Trump ban.
