Oversight Committee upholds Trump's suspension from Facebook, Instagram

By Alyssa Wilson Published: May 5, 2021

Oversight Committee upholds Trump’s suspension from Facebook, Instagram

President Donald Trump speaks during a rally protesting the electoral college certification of Joe Biden as President, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. Trump enters the last days of his presidency facing a second impeachment and growing calls for his resignation after his supporters launched an assault on the nation’s Capitol in an effort to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power. Yet Trump will try to go on offense in his last 10 days, with no plans of resigning. Instead, Trump is planning to lash out against the companies that have now denied him his Twitter and Facebook bullhorns. And aides hope he will spend his last days trying to trumpet his policy accomplishments, beginning with a trip to Alamo, Texas Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

By: Alyssa Wilson

Facebook’s Oversight Board announced they agree with the platform’s decision to suspend former President Donald Trump’s accounts on Facebook and Instagram.

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

— Oversight Board (@OversightBoard) May 5, 2021

The committee also ruled that Facebook violated its own rules by imposing a suspension that was “indefinite.”

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.

— Oversight Board (@OversightBoard) May 5, 2021

It ruled that within six months, Facebook must review the matter and decide on a new penalty that reflects the rules, the severity of the violation and the prospect of future harm. The board is an outside group founded and funded by Facebook responsible for making decisions regarding content moderation, ABC 15 reported.

Ahead of our announcement on the Trump suspension case, a reminder of how the Oversight Board makes decisions: pic.twitter.com/ytSGPOCEp7

— Oversight Board (@OversightBoard) May 3, 2021

The former President’s accounts were suspended on Facebook and Instagram after the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol in January. Facebook Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg made the announcement in a post stating:

“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.”

The post went on to say the risks associated with Trump’s social pages are significant. “We believe the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great. Therefore, we are extending the block we have placed on his Facebook and Instagram accounts indefinitely and for at least the next two weeks until the peaceful transition of power is complete,” Zuckerberg said.

The shocking events of the last 24 hours clearly demonstrate that President Donald Trump intends to use his remaining…

Posted by Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday, January 7, 2021

After his social media profiles were removed from mainstream social media platforms, many conservatives flocked to the social media platform Parler. The platform was founded in 2018 and touts itself as “unbiased social media.” It was heavily used by Trump supporters, including some who participated in the attack on the U.S. Capitol, CNN reported.

Parler has been removed from app stores on Apple, Google and Amazon.

Thanks to @RepKenBuck and @SenMikeLee for their efforts to learn and expose the truth behind three tech companies’ decisions to suddenly–all on one weekend in January–unjustly deplatform #Parler, precisely when it was becoming a serious #socialmedia contender. #freeparler

— Parler (@parler_app) April 1, 2021