Trump Facebook suspension to continue, but platform must review penalty, board says
Former President Donald Trump will remain suspended from Facebook — but the company will be required to review the penalty.
The company’s independent oversight board announced Wednesday that it decided to uphold the platform’s suspension on Trump’s account but urged the company to “reassess this penalty.” Facebook instated the suspension following the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Other social media platforms had also banned Trump following the insurrection, including Twitter, which permanently suspended the former president’s account.
The oversight board says Facebook’s decision to impose the “indeterminate and standardless” suspension was “not appropriate” and insisted that Facebook review the decision “to determine and justify a proportionate response that is consistent with the rules that are applied to other users of its platform.”
It provided options including “removing the violating content, imposing a time-bound period of suspension, or permanently disabling the page and account.”
“Within six months of this decision, Facebook must reexamine the arbitrary penalty it imposed on January 7 and decide the appropriate penalty,” the board said. “This penalty must be based on the gravity of the violation and the prospect of future harm. It must also be consistent with Facebook’s rules for severe violations, which must, in turn, be clear, necessary and proportionate.”
Nick Clegg, Facebook’s vice president of global affairs and communications, said in a statement the company is “pleased the board has recognized that the unprecedented circumstances justified the exceptional measure we took” and that it will “consider the board’s decision and determine an action that is clear and proportionate.”
“The board also made a number of recommendations on how we should improve our policies,” Clegg said. “While these recommendations are not binding, we actively sought the board’s views on our policies around political figures and will carefully review its recommendations.”
The board said it found two of Trump’s posts on Jan. 6 — one where he wrote “We love you. You’re very special” and another that read in part “great patriots” and “remember this day forever” — violated Facebook’s community guidelines. It said Facebook was justified in suspending Trump’s account “given the seriousness of the violations and the ongoing risk of violence.”
“However, it was not appropriate for Facebook to impose an ‘indefinite’ suspension,” the board said. “It is not permissible for Facebook to keep a user off the platform for an undefined period, with no criteria for when or whether the account will be restored.”
The oversight board said it opened the case for public opinion and received more than 9,600 comments. The case was assigned to five randomly-chosen members who drafted a decision that was then approved by the board through a majority vote.
Trump called the social media bans a “total disgrace” and an “embarrassment” in a statement Wednesday after the board’s ruling.
“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,” he wrote.
Trump’s ban from Facebook
Facebook initially blocked Trump from the platform for 24 hours after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
But the next day, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the suspension of his account would continue indefinitely.
“The shocking events of the last 24 hours clearly demonstrate that President Donald Trump intends to use his remaining time in office to undermine the peaceful and lawful transition of power to his elected successor, Joe Biden,” Zuckerberg wrote on Facebook on Jan. 7.
Facebook later requested that its independent oversight board review its decision to indefinitely suspend Trump and make a binding decision on whether to uphold or reverse that ban.
The board is a separate entity from Facebook and is funded by an independent trust. It has the “authority to decide” whether Facebook and Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, should remove content.
“The board uses its independent judgment to support people’s right to free expression and ensure those rights are being adequately respected,” its website says. “The board’s decisions to uphold or reverse Facebook’s content decisions will be binding, meaning Facebook will have to implement them, unless doing so could violate the law.”
The board’s Wednesday decision is expected to set a precedent for how Facebook and other social media companies handle the accounts of other politicians and world leaders, The Washington Post reports. Critics had for years pushed Facebook to ban Trump over what they called his extreme rhetoric and sharing of misinformation.
But, prior to the Capitol insurrection, Facebook had said it shouldn’t be charged with making such “consequential decisions” on free speech, the Washington Post reports.
The Capitol attack and other social media bans
On Jan. 6, a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building as Congress was certifying then-President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory.
They broke windows, scaled walls and forced lawmakers to evacuate and pause the certification. The attack resulted in five deaths.
At a rally shortly before the attack, Trump encouraged his supporters to march on Capitol Hill, telling them they “have to show strength.” Prior to Jan. 6, he repeatedly made false claims that the 2020 presidential election was fraudulent and stolen from him.
Many, at least in part, pinned the attack on Trump’s rhetoric surrounding the election, and shortly after, several social media companies suspended him from their platforms — including Twitter, which he frequently used to tout or share false claims about the election.
Twitter locked Trump’s account for 12 hours following the attack. Not long after his account was unlocked, Twitter made the decision to permanently ban him from the platform, which the company said was due to concerns Trump would incite more violence.
Trump’s Twitter ban has remained a topic of debate. Critics have said it’s an attack on free speech and that social media companies shouldn’t be making such big decisions. But supporters have said the ban was overdue, citing the former president’s rhetoric.
Some legal experts have said the social media bans don’t violate the First Amendment because social media platforms are private companies.
A Pew Research poll conducted April 12-18 found 50% of respondents think Trump should not be permanently banned from social media platforms while 49% said he should be. A Yahoo Finance poll conducted in early March found about 50% of respondents think Facebook should allow Trump to return while 44% said he should be permanently banned.
Trump has launched other websites designed to allow him to communicate with supporters while he’s been suspended from social media platforms.
Most recently, he announced the creation of a site called “From the Desk of Donald J. Trump” that includes a feed of posts and statements from the former president. He also launched 45office.com in March, which allows people to send comments and request appearances and greetings.
Members of Congress react
This story was originally published May 5, 2021 at 9:06 AM with the headline "Trump Facebook suspension to continue, but platform must review penalty, board says."
