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Donald Trump will remain blocked from Facebook after a ruling from the company’s independent oversight board that is likely to spark a fierce backlash from Republicans.
The decision will continue to deprive the former president of a vital mouthpiece, but Facebook must review within the next six months whether the freeze should stay in place permanently, the panel decided.
The social media platform suspended Trump’s account indefinitely four months ago over fears he could stir further violence and unrest following the storming of the Capitol by a mob of the 45th president’s supporters on January 6.
“We believe the risks of allowing the president to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great,” Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said at the time.
Later in January, Facebook asked its oversight board — a Supreme Court-style body first appointed in 2020 that hears appeals from users on its content moderation decisions — to review the ban, as well as provide more general recommendations about how the platform should treat rule-breaking content from world leaders.
On Wednesday, the board said it had upheld the decision to restrict the former president’s account. However, it said that chief executive Mark Zuckerberg’s decision to ban Trump “indefinitely” was an “indeterminate and standardless penalty”.
It added: “The Board insists that Facebook 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. Facebook must complete its review of this matter within six months of the date of this decision.”
In a blog post, Facebook’s vice-president of global affairs and communications, Nick Clegg, reiterated that the company believed that the decision to suspend Trump was “necessary and right”, saying: “We’re pleased the board has recognised that the unprecedented circumstances justified the exceptional measure we took.”
But he added that “the board criticised the open-ended nature of the suspension”. Trump’s accounts will remain suspended while the company reviews its response, he said.
It remains unclear whether Trump, once an obsessive user of social media with more than 35m followers on Facebook and 24m on Instagram, will be able to regain access to a powerful channel for energising his supporters and raking in fundraising dollars. The former president has not ruled out running again for the White House in 2024.
The ruling, which effectively passes the buck back to the company to decide Trump’s ultimate fate, marked the biggest test to date of Facebook’s 20-member oversight board, made up of academics, civil rights groups and experts across the political spectrum. The board, which is funded by Facebook but otherwise independent from the company, has the final say on moderation decisions at a time of bipartisan support for tougher regulation of big tech in the US.
The ruling is likely to be divisive. Civil rights groups have urged Facebook to ban the former president permanently, arguing the social media platform bent its own rules to accommodate him and appease Republicans. Others have argued that the treatment of Trump by Facebook amounts to censorship and a dangerous curb on free speech, and illustrates the unwieldy power the company has amassed.
Facebook rival Twitter banned Trump permanently in January. Google’s YouTube has suspended the former president from the video platform but chief executive Susan Wojcicki said it would lift the freeze once “the risk of violence has decreased”.
The former president has kept a relatively low profile since leaving the White House in late January and snubbed Joe Biden’s inauguration. He has made few public appearances and participated in only a handful of interviews, mostly with Fox News.
He has continued to repeat some of the unproven claims of election fraud that contributed to his bans. He issued several statements on Monday alone through his Save America political action committee, including: “The Fraudulent Presidential Election of 2020 will be, from this day forth, known as THE BIG LIE!” Trump has also touted the possibility that he might create his own social network.
