Facebook to decide on permanent Trump ban
Facebook’s Oversight Board will soon announce whether or not Trump will be welcomed back to its social platform on May 5.
The Facebook Oversight Board is tasked with deciding whether or not the ban on former President Donald Trump‘s accounts will be permanent or if his platform will be reinstated.
Read More: Study: Facebook delivers biased job ads, skewed by gender
The Hill reported Trump was suspended from Facebook after posts he made regarding the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol were taken down. The temporary ban, initiated by Mark Zuckerberg and extended to Instagram, was sent to the board to decide the fate of the twice impeached former POTUS accounts. According to the report, the Facebook Oversight Board typically makes the decision in 90 days which would have resulted in a late April announcement.
According to the news outlet, the board released a statement in mid-April announcing the decision would be delayed, noting that it had extended the public comments deadline for the case. The board received nore than 9,000 responses.
On Twitter, the Oversight Board confirmed the decision will be announced this week.
“The Oversight Board will announce its decision on the case concerning former US President Trump on its website,” the tweet read, declaring the decision will be revealed on May 5 at 9:00 a.m. ET.
According to The Hill, the decision on whether to ban or reinstate Trump’s accounts could have a long-standing impact on future decisions regarding the accounts of global political leaders.
Read More: Facebook data on more than 500 million accounts found on hackers site
In March, Facebook removed a video interview featuring Trump in alignment with the January implemented ban. theGrio reported The video showed Trump being interviewed by his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, who posted the clip on her Facebook page. The footage was swiftly removed and Trump received a message warning her that “content posted on Facebook and Instagram in the voice of President Trump is not currently allowed on our platform (including new posts with President Trump speaking) and will be removed if posted, resulting in additional limitations on accounts that posted it.”
Lara Trump shared an email she received from Facebook about the removal of her Trump interview clip.
“In line with the block we placed on Donald Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts, further content posted in the voice of Donald Trump will be removed and result in additional limitations on the accounts,” the email said.
Twitter CFO Ned Segal revealed Trump’s ban from the platform will continue whether or not he runs for office again. theGrio reported he spoke with CNN and shared the details of the ban.
“The way our policies work, when you’re removed from the platform, you’re removed from the platform,” said Segal.
“Whether you’re a commentator, you’re a CFO, or you are a former or current public official, remember, our policies are designed to make sure that people are not inciting violence,” Segal added. “And if anybody does that, we have to remove them from the service and our policies don’t allow people to come back.”
This article contains additional reporting by theGrio’s Ny Magee.
Have you subscribed to theGrio’s new podcast “Dear Culture”? Download our newest episodes now!
TheGrio is now on Apple TV, Amazon Fire, and Roku. Download theGrio today!
