Facebook is passing the buck for its indefinite suspension of former President Donald Trump to a quasi-independent oversight board, setting up the first and major test of the recently established panel. His accounts will remain suspended while the board reviews the decision.
The oversight board is a quasi-independent board created recently by the company to rule on the thorny content issues, like when the posts contribute to hate speech. It is empowered to overrule the company's decisions, and its decisions cannot be overturned by CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Any other findings by the board will be considered guidance by Facebook. However, the board does not set the policies or decide whether the company is playing its part to enforce them.
The social media giant blocked Trump's access to his Facebook and Instagram accounts over the concerns of further violence and unrest following the US Capitol attack on January 6. When it suspended Trump, Facebook said that the block would last at least until the end of Trump's presidential term and perhaps indefinitely. Trump's term expired on Wednesday when Joe Biden was sworn-in as the president.
And while it is confident of the decision, it wants "an independent judgment on upholding the decision." So it has asked the oversight board to step up, which has been criticized in the past for its delayed start and limited remit.
The board has 90 days to make a ruling and Facebook act on it, but an Oversight Board spokesman said it would likely be sooner than that.
The administrators of Trump's Facebook page also have the option to submit a written statement challenging Facebook's decision.
The social media giant had also asked the board to provide recommendations on when political leaders can or should be blocked. However, it is not bound to act on the recommendation, unlike the board's case decision which is meant to be binding.
Its 20 members, which will eventually grow to 40, include a former prime minister of Denmark, the former editor-in-chief of the Guardian newspaper, along with legal scholars, human rights experts and journalists such as Tawakkol Karmanm, a Nobel Laureate and journalist from Yemen, and Julie Owono, a digital rights advocate.
"That's why we're here, not to leave these decisions to the leadership of Facebook but actually use the Oversight Board to look at this in a principled way," said Helle Thorning-Schmidt, a board co-chair and the former Danish prime minister told Reuters. It's first four board members were chosen by Facebook, and then they worked with the company to select additional members. Facebook also pays the board members salaries.
Facebook and other social media companies have come under fire for the proliferation of violent rhetoric and election misinformation on their platforms, including Trump and his allies. That criticism only increased around the unrest at the Capitol, which was also incited and organized on social platforms.
Twitter has permanently banned Trump from its platform. CEO Jack Dorsey defended the ban in a philosophical Twitter thread last week, saying that resulting risk to public safety created an extraordinary and untenable circumstance for the company.
However, he acknowledged that shows of strength like the Trump ban could set dangerous precedents in the future. These actions highlight the extraordinary power of Big Tech and the fact that they can wield them without any accountability or recourse. He suggested that Twitter needs to find ways to avoid coming to make such decisions.
With inputs from agencies.
