Facebook Oversight Board upholds Trump's suspension, but asks Facebook to review the decision within six months to determine a penalty consistent with its rules

For Now Kari Paul / The Guardian : Facebook ruling on Trump renews criticism of oversight board Donald J. Trump : Donald Trump calls the actions of “corrupt social media companies” like Facebook, Twitter, and Google disgraceful TNW : 6 things you should know about the Facebook Oversight Board Electronic Frontier Foundation : Facebook Oversight Board Affirms Trump Suspension — For Now CNBC : Facebook upholds Trump ban but will reassess decision over coming months Eugene Scott / Washington Post : Trump, Republicans express outrage over extension of Facebook ban Oliver Darcy / CNN : Republicans and right-wing media use Facebook Oversight Board's Trump decision to claim bias Tweets: Nate Persily / @persily : For me, so far, the most interesting passage is: https://twitter.com/... J.D. Vance / @jdvance1 : The Facebook oversight board has more power than the United Nations. Conservatives were right to worry about giving our sovereignty away to a multinational institution. We just picked the wrong one. Brian Stelter / @brianstelter : Mark Meadows' immediate reaction to Trump remaining banned: “It's a sad day for America. It's a sad day for Facebook, 'cuz I can tell you, a number of members of Congress are now looking at, do they break up Facebook? Do they make sure that they don't have a monopoly?” https://twitter.com/... Oversight Board / @oversightboard : The Board has upheld Facebook's decision on January 7 to suspend then-President Trump from Facebook and Instagram. Trump's posts during the Capitol riot severely violated Facebook's rules and encouraged and legitimized violence. https://t.co/veRvWpeyCi Rep. Jim Jordan / @jim_jordan : Break them up. https://twitter.com/... Oversight Board / @oversightboard : Facebook cannot make up the rules as it goes, and anyone concerned about its power should be concerned about allowing this. Having clear rules that apply to all users and Facebook is essential for ensuring the company treats users fairly. This is what the Board stands for. Ted Cruz / @tedcruz : Disgraceful. For every liberal celebrating Trump's social media ban, if the Big Tech oligarchs can muzzle the former President, what's to stop them from silencing you? https://twitter.com/... Ben Rhodes / @brhodes : You know your country is way off course when the lead story is whether the world's largest disinformation platform run by an unaccountable mega-billionaire will allow a reality show narcissist who attempted to overthrow democracy to post childish insults of people online. Rep. Frank Pallone / @frankpallone : Every day, Facebook is amplifying and promoting disinformation and misinformation, and the structure and rules governing its oversight board generally seem to ignore this disturbing reality. It's clear that real accountability will only come with legislative action. Sacha Baron Cohen / @sachabaroncohen : Overlooked in today's news: Mark—even your oversight board says Facebook shouldn't have special exemptions for politicians because they “have a greater power to cause harm than other people.” Facebook—stop protecting politicians who spread lethal lies! #StopHateForProfit https://twitter.com/... Mark Warner / @markwarner : We saw former President Trump utilize Facebook and other social media platforms to sow misinformation, bully opponents, and spread anti-democratic vitriol. While this is a welcome step by Facebook, the reality is that bad actors still have the ability to weaponize the platform. Rep. Frank Pallone / @frankpallone : Donald Trump has played a big role in helping Facebook spread disinformation, but whether he's on the platform or not, Facebook and other social media platforms with the same business model will find ways to highlight divisive content to drive advertising revenues. @colorofchange : Today, @Facebook's Oversight Board's ruling was pure theatre. While they upheld Trump's temporary ban from the platform for now, the Joel Kaplan-led Facebook policy team will make the ultimate decision in November, essentially opening the door for Trump's return to the platform. Eli Sugarman / @elisugarman : We prioritize user voice (given FB's power), so it's positive that Mr. Trump submitted a user statement in this case. Unfortunately, it is replete w/ falsehoods e.g. the attack on the Capitol was clearly “influenced, and most probably ignited by outside forces.” (Sec. 5) 4/15 Rat King / @mikeisaac : Trump statement, over email (not his new blog) via @maggieNYT https://twitter.com/... Eli Sugarman / @elisugarman : In other words, there should be a forward-looking harm assessment (that complies with int'l law) to ensure no political leader is automatically reinstated who poses a serious risk. A minority (see Sec. 9) believes this should have been in the binding part of the decision. 23/25 Glenn Greenwald / @ggreenwald : The fact that Facebook has courts that decide who can and can't be heard on monopolistic speech platforms is tyrannical. Here's a reminder that leaders around the world — many of whom dislike Trump — condemned Facebook's removal of Trump: https://www.bloomberg.com/... Josh Hawley / @hawleymo : Here's a real life example of the tyranny of #BigTech - a fake @Facebook court decides @Facebook can do whatever @Facebook wants, in this case, suspending Donald Trump w/o process or standards. That's what monopolies do. Break them up https://oversightboard.com/... Kurt Wagner / @kurtwagner8 : In a weird twist, Facebook's Oversight Board basically told Facebook: Don't send us your difficult decision — make it yourself! “...Facebook seeks to avoid its responsibilities.” https://twitter.com/... @emptywheel : Shorter Facebook: Trump glorified a violent insurrection as it was occurring. https://www.oversightboard.com/ ... Oversight Board / @oversightboard : We call on Facebook to ensure that if a head of state or high government official repeatedly posts messages that pose a risk of harm under international human rights norms, the company should either suspend the account for a set period or delete it. Nick Confessore / @nickconfessore : The fact that this private corporate administrative decision is being covered as something akin to a Supreme Court ruling — rightly so, I think — is the best illustration I can imagine of the sheer power Facebook has achieved over the public square. https://www.nytimes.com/... Oversight Board / @oversightboard : Within 6 months of today, Facebook must review this matter and decide a new penalty that reflects its rules, the severity of the violation, and prospect of future harm. Facebook can either impose a time-limited suspension or account deletion. Dick Costolo / @dickc : This is literally the opposite of what every company must do. It's like saying “hey, you can't just amend the Constitution as you go”....platforms working to battle new misinformation campaigns, new threats, new abuse, MUST make up the rules as they go. https://twitter.com/... Elizabeth Warren / @senwarren : Facebook is a disinformation-for-profit machine that won't accept responsibility for its role in the safety of our democracy and people. Trump should be banned for good, but Facebook will continue to fumble with its power until Congress and antitrust regulators rein in Big Tech. Andy Stone / @andymstone : Reaction from Facebook's @nick_clegg to today's @OversightBoard decision: “I hope over time what people... will acknowledge is that we are trying to hold the decisions that Facebook takes as a private company to the fullest possible account and to make it transparent...” https://twitter.com/... Kara Swisher / @karaswisher : This is really so much badly framed bullshit. This is a decision to make no decision about how to deal with what were clear violations at a dangerous time by a single persistently trolling individual. Disgraceful indeed, though more for the exhausting manipulation going on here. https://twitter.com/... @gzeromedia : The decision not to allow Trump back on Facebook was decided by its own privately appointed board. Politically momentous decision, made with zero representative governance, or democracy. That is a sign of our times. @ianbremmer on World #In60Seconds: https://www.gzeromedia.com/world/ https://twitter.com/... Remmy Robertson / @remmy_robertson : @TomCottonAR @TomCottonAR 1. Facebook is a private company. 2. Trump agreed to Facebooks terms and conditions. 3. Trump violated those terms multiple times resulting him being banned. 4. Conservatives are not being silenced. 5. Conservatives are trying to silence private companies. Jim Steyer / @jimsteyer : Misinformation and disinformation is still rampant, and a major threat to our democracy and to the well-being of kids and families. It must stop and the only way to protect our society is independent, democratically accountable oversight of Mark Zuckerberg and FB. #TrumpBanned @fboversight : RFOB Board Member @shoshanazuboff appeared on @CBSNews 📽️Watch the full interview here: https://www.youtube.com/... https://twitter.com/... @fboversight : @Moonalice @Channel4News RFOB Board Member Jessica Gonzalez @JGo4Justice appeared on @AP 📽️Watch the full interview here: https://www.youtube.com/... https://twitter.com/... Carole Cadwalladr / @carolecadwalla : This is the key issue today. Facebook won't even answer questions posed by its Facebook-mandated & appointed board about the role it played in Jan 6 insurrection. Everything else is spin & cover. The questions today are not for the Oversight Board. They're for @nick_clegg https://twitter.com/... Dan Wootton / @danwootton : Facebook's Oversight Board upholds Donald Trump's ban from the platform. A tech platform in San Francisco now has the power to withhold the free speech of the then-democratically elected leader of the free world. No matter what your politics, this decision is chilling. V David Zvenyach / @vdavez : I can't get out of my head that the Facebook Oversight Board has a larger budget than the US Supreme Court. $130M for the Oversight Board https://www.nytimes.com/... $108 for SCOTUS in FY21 https://www.uscourts.gov/... @fboversight : RFOB Board Member @tribelaw appeared on @CBSNews 📽️Watch the full interview here: https://www.youtube.com/... https://twitter.com/... @fboversight : RFOB Founding Member @carolecadwalla appeared on @CNBC 📽️Watch the full interview here: https://www.youtube.com/... https://twitter.com/... @jgo4justice : Now is the time for Facebook to swiftly and decisively issue a permanent Trump ban. @fboversight : Next up, RFOB Board Member @shoshanazuboff appeared on @CNBC 📽️Watch the full interview here: https://www.youtube.com/... https://twitter.com/... Yael Eisenstat / @yaeleisenstat : “Oversight Board” upholds Facebook's Trump ban, sort of. Punts it back as too punishing. Now can we return to a real issue: how to hold FB accountable for how its tools & business decisions helped spread conspiracy theories & contributed to planning+execution of an insurrection? Jeff Sites / @sites4congress : @Jim_Jordan @JudiciaryGOP Jim Jordan loves railing against Big Tech on social media... but that hasn't stopped him from taking their money. The Swamp in Action! Adam Schiff / @repadamschiff : There's no Constitutional protection for using social media to incite an insurrection. Trump is willing to do anything for himself no matter the danger to our country. His big lies have cost America dearly. And until he stops, Facebook must ban him. Which is to say, forever. https://twitter.com/... Rep. Madison Cawthorn / @repcawthorn : Big-tech tyranny continues to censor and ban conservatives every day. Under a Republican majority, those days are over. I support @GOPLeader in our effort to reign in the power of #BigTech. https://twitter.com/... Max Burns / @themaxburns : CONSERVATIVES: “There's not even a formal process for these tech giants to determine who stays banned! It's tyranny!” ALSO CONSERVATIVES: “How dare Facebook build a formal process for determining who stays banned! It's tyranny!” https://twitter.com/... Robby Soave / @robbysoave : I think there are reasonable criticisms to be made of Facebook and moderation decisions, but conservatives increasingly default to absurd overreactions like this. https://twitter.com/... Rashad Robinson / @rashadrobinson : What's more likely — and even worse than today's circus — is that, by punting the decision on a permanent ban back to the policy team, the Board left the door open for Trump's return to the platform. This is because the policy team is led by right-wing operative Joel Kaplan. @colorofchange : This is not enough. An external board can't replace policy enforcement and Facebook leadership has defended Trump time after time. If allowed back, he'll have free reign to stoke the flames of white nationalism and violence against Black people. Remember January 6th? Rashad Robinson / @rashadrobinson : In fact, this isn't even an “Oversight” Board at all. By their own admission, they asked Facebook to answer questions to inform their decision and the company flatout refused to address most of them. Just because FB uses the word “oversight,” that doesn't mean they understand it. Rashad Robinson / @rashadrobinson : The Facebook “Oversight” Board decided to uphold Trump's suspension for another six months. But let's break down what this really means. First of all, even the Board says that Facebook is trying to “avoid its responsibilities” — which is what we've been saying all along. https://twitter.com/... Nick Clegg / @nick_clegg : We thank the @OversightBoard for the care and attention they gave this case. We will now consider the board's guidance and develop a response that is clear and proportionate. In the meantime, Mr. Trump's accounts remain suspended. https://about.fb.com/... https://twitter.com/... Aaron Rupar / @atrupar : “We're not going to have any comment on the future of the former president's social media platform” — Jen Psaki https://twitter.com/... James Poniewozik / @poniewozik : Haha, fortunately we have no reason to believe THIS will ever happen https://twitter.com/... Ian Bremmer / @ianbremmer : There is no legitimate news value in reposting Trump's random posts at this point. It's either residual emotional damage or clickbait. Neither serve the purpose of a free media or functional civil society. https://twitter.com/... Nate Silver / @natesilver538 : There's definitely some tension between the notion of deplatforming Trump from Facebook and Twitter—a notion that is fairly popular among journalists, at least the ones who are most vocal about it—and the tendency by journalists to amplify his every utterance. https://twitter.com/... Jared Holt / @jaredlholt : “Newsworthiness is a choice masquerading as an inevitability. There is no Hippocratic Oath for journalism that suggests we must amplify lies or provide our most shameless politicians with an endless supply of attention.” —⁦@cwarzel⁩ https://warzel.substack.com/ ... Rat King / @mikeisaac : “Anyone who is concerned about Facebook's excessive concentration of power should welcome the board telling Facebook that it cannot create new, unwritten rules when it suits them.” —Helle Thorning-Schmidt, co-chair of the board Ann Coulter / @anncoulter : Good. Trump ran for office on the promise to build a wall (lying through his teeth), then frantically threw up 40 miles of new fence in the last few months before the Election. It would be like letting Bernie Madoff back on Facebook from prison. https://www.nytimes.com/... Molly Jong-Fast / @mollyjongfast : Just ban him forever https://twitter.com/... Carole Cadwalladr / @carolecadwalla : So takeaway from today is that Facebook's early attempts to position the Oversight Board as a Supreme Court were at least partly successful (that's what $$$ buys you). But that myth was punctured today. Widespread derision that Facebook tried to pass off this decision...& failed https://twitter.com/... Kara Swisher / @karaswisher : So let's not give it the gravitas of a Supreme Court and realize it is a indeed glorified corporate advisory board of just 20 people is who have made a key decision for the rest of us. And with the obvious lack of contrition displayed by Trump this week, the past is prologue. Carole Cadwalladr / @carolecadwalla : Can @nick_clegg please respond & provide an explanation for why Facebook refused to answer these questions? https://twitter.com/... Kelsey D. Atherton / @athertonkd : “The idea for the Oversight Board came from Noah Feldman, a fifty-year-old professor at Harvard Law School, who has written a biography of James Madison and helped draft the interim Iraqi constitution. ” What. a. line. https://www.newyorker.com/... Freedom House / @freedomhouse : The oversight board has made, in our view, a reasonable decision: to uphold the suspension of Former President Trump's account while Facebook formulates a proportionate response to the inciting content for which he was originally suspended. 2/5 Oversight Board / @oversightboard : The Board also found Facebook violated its own rules by imposing a suspension that was ‘indefinite.’ This penalty is not described in Facebook's content policies. It has no clear criteria and gives Facebook total discretion on when to impose or lift it. Kara Swisher / @karaswisher : Keep mind as we wait that while the Facebook Oversight board is independent, it's paid for by Facebook with members handpicked by Facebook in a system essentially created by Facebook. It is a corporate advisory board with more power & fancier names, but with few if any critics. Matthew Yglesias / @mattyglesias : My main view on Facebook is that it's important to challenge GOP members to have specific policy remedies for what they are mad about, rather than let them park it on the “Facebook is unregulated but makes decisions based on fear of angering Republicans” equilibrium. Guy Verhofstadt / @guyverhofstadt : What happened on Capitol Hill should not be forgotten. Tech platforms and media should never again normalise extremism & lies. But self-regulation's not enough. We need to hold them to account ! https://twitter.com/... Richard Blumenthal / @senblumenthal : Donald Trump is no voiceless victim. He earned his suspension from Facebook by spreading dangerous, violence-inciting lies. Our nation is still living with the consequences of the deadly insurrection Trump incited, & there is a clear & present danger that he will do it again. https://twitter.com/... @pinboard : The Facebook Oversight Board is accountability cosplay, and treating it (or its decisions) seriously advances Facebook's goals of being a law unto itself. The fact that lawyers dominate the discussion around Facebook policies exacerbates the problem of lending false legitimacy Hannah Murphy / @mshannahmurphy : Will be intrigued to see Facebook's response to the oversight board request that it create a specific team to handle the moderation of political speech by influential users. This “should be insulated from political & economic interference, as well as undue influence”, it says 1/ Hannah Murphy / @mshannahmurphy : It's been widely reported that Facebook's DC lobbyists (eg right-leaning Joel Kaplan) are in the room when it decide on certain cases - blurring the line somewhat between content policy and political policymaking 2/ Rep. Pramila Jayapal / @repjayapal : Good. Appropriate. Necessary. He used the site to foment an insurrection, and he is still perpetuating the Big Lie. https://www.nytimes.com/... Kara Swisher / @karaswisher : @mfidel999 I think so but I would like to be wrong Jonathan Swan / @jonathanvswan : to the Oversight Board and were cautiously optimistic that Trump would be re-platformed. And yes: his inner circle increasingly believes he will run in 2024. Long long way to go but that's where he's at now. And Facebook is crucial to their strategy as it was in 16 and 20. Jonathan Swan / @jonathanvswan : The bottom line is Trump and his inner circle were hanging on this decision and view Facebook reinstatement as crucial to Trump's political comeback. Mostly because of its fundraising power. They submitted a lengthy written argument... 1/2 https://twitter.com/... James Grimmelmann / @grimmelm : Are tweets by @OversightBoard approved by a majority of the Board? Because this is not an accurate summary of the relevant portion of its decision today and it editorializes in a way that the decision does not. https://twitter.com/... @public_citizen : lol https://twitter.com/... Emily Dreyfuss / @emilydreyfuss : @CaseyNewton my take is that the board heard the criticism that they were just pawns to let FB pass the buck to an external group and they tried to answer by making a half decision and putting the call back on FB Ellen K. Pao / @ekp : This rings true to me, but also is extremely generous. Not sure what else they expected when they signed up and saw the structure and lack of business operating experience on the board https://twitter.com/... Casey Newton / @caseynewton : It turns out that everyone's Trump decision take is just “what I already thought about Facebook” + “what I already thought about the Oversight Board” Steve Vladeck / @steve_vladeck : Yeah, no—the Facebook Oversight Board's decisions are not appealable to #SCOTUS. https://twitter.com/... Marsha Blackburn / @votemarsha : If Big Tech can ban the President of the United States, they can ban you. Join me in standing up to this bias censorship. https://www.nbcnews.com/... Alex Hern / @alexhern : A thought: The UK's forthcoming internet regulatory regime, implemented by the Online Safety Bill, could quite easily turn the Oversight Board's “recommendations” into legal requirements simply by enacting the principles in the bill. *That* would be spicy. https://twitter.com/... Brian Stelter / @brianstelter : “CONSERVATIVES CENSORED: FACEBOOK KEEPS TRUMP BAN” is the lead on Fox's 11am “news.” @HarrisFaulkner says “the silencing of conservatives online continues.” James Grimmelmann / @grimmelm : First real question: what's the case's name? The FOB doesn't put parties' names or anything else in its metadata, just a case number. But following the usual legal citation standards, I think this is pretty clearly In re Trump. James Grimmelmann / @grimmelm : The FOB doesn't believe in indenting block quotes. I do! the FOB doesn't believe in title-casing section headings. I do! The FOB believes in italicizing block quotations. I don't! Really not a fan of the FOB's typographical choices here. James Grimmelmann / @grimmelm : Observation: the FOB doesn't use a page <title> specific to each decision. You'd think a Facebook-established organization would be better at SEO. https://twitter.com/... James Grimmelmann / @grimmelm : The Facebook Oversight Board decision on Trump's account is out, which means it's time for me to edit this thing and kibbitz about the details. https://oversightboard.com/... Eli Sugarman / @elisugarman : Here's an interesting part, If FB determines that Mr. Trump's accounts should be restored, FB “should apply its rules to that decision, including any modifications made pursuant to the policy recommendations” in Sec. 10. But what modifications are we talking about? 20/25 Eli Sugarman / @elisugarman : But the majority preferred instead to make it non-binding. Thus, if FB chooses to give Mr. Trump a time-limited suspension (instead of a permanent ban) AND adopts the policy recommendation, Mr. Trump would not be reinstated until and unless he ceases to pose a serious risk. 24/25 Eli Sugarman / @elisugarman : Sec. 6 of the decision summarizes what info @Facebook shared as part of the case file. This is a key part of any case decision because we rely on FB for critical information to explain its decisions, the context behind them, and other relevant/details considerations. 6/15 Neil Chilson / @neil_chilson : The Oversight Board decision is a useful stake in the ground for increased clarity and transparency. It offers early evidence that third-party governing bodies can assess social media company decisions in a way that increases transparency and shapes company policies. 5/5 Neil Chilson / @neil_chilson : People (especially on the right) are treating the decision as a rubber stamp of FB's January decision. But the Oversight Board rightly holds Facebook accountable for issuing an indefinite suspension without clear rules or reasoning. That's worth praising. 2/5 Michael Tracey / @mtracey : This weird quasi-judicial Facebook tribunal actually denounces FB's punishment of Trump. “It was not appropriate for Facebook to impose the indeterminate and standardless penalty of indefinite suspension,” the tribunal declares. Journalists who cheered the penalty must be furious https://twitter.com/... Gabe Rivera / @gaberivera : One thing that both https://www.donaldjtrump.com/ desk and https://oversightboard.com/news/ agree on: They don't need an RSS feed! Brian Stelter / @brianstelter : Americans are, unsurprisingly, split on whether Trump should be barred from social media: “Some 49% of U.S. adults say Trump's accounts should be permanently banned from social media, while half say they should not be,” Pew says https://www.pewresearch.org/ ... @pewresearch : 95% of conservative Republicans believe Donald Trump's accounts should not be permanently banned from social media, but that share is lower among moderate and liberal Republicans (77%). https://www.pewresearch.org/ ... https://twitter.com/... Daphne Keller / @daphnehk : Sorry, here's the list of questions FB declined to answer. I had the wrong image before. https://twitter.com/... Nate Persily / @persily : 3 we now learn more about how the Board interacts with FB - that it asked 46 questions of FB, most of which were answered, but some of which were not, based on relevance, privacy or other concerns. FB now knows that its refusal to answer questions will be noted in decisions. Nate Persily / @persily : On the @OversightBoard decision: Although everyone will be paying attention to the bottom line, which seems like a reasonable Solomonic outcome, the most important issue for me is how this decision institutionalizes the board and its powers vis a vis Facebook, going forward... Nate Persily / @persily : 4 On the merits, it is easy for the Board (or anyone) to say an incitement standard (or a glorification of violence) standard is too vague. But really, most incitement standards are too vague. It is difficult to specify “clear and present dangers” in advance, as Bd recognizes Nate Persily / @persily : 1 the Board continues to ground its decisions in international human rights law. This is both understandable and perhaps inevitable given the charter. However, I think this approach is fundamentally misguided: Facebook is not a government and the newsfeed is not a public square See also Mediagazer

Oversight Board 2021-05-06