Facebook Has Upheld Its Ban Of Former President Trump
A Facebook Oversight Board has decided to indefinitely uphold its ban of former President Donald Trump. Trump's account was initially suspended four months ago for inciting violence before the January 6th Capitol incident.
In a statement, Facebook's VP of Global Affairs and Communications Nick Clegg says that they have not permanently banned Trump. The company is still deciding the appropriate long-term penalty.
"However, while the board has not required Facebook to immediately restore Mr. Trump’s accounts, it has not specified the appropriate duration of the penalty. Instead, the board criticized the open-ended nature of the suspension, calling it an 'indeterminate and standardless penalty,' and insisted we review our response. We will now consider the board’s decision and determine an action that is clear and proportionate," the statement said.
The former president was also banned from Twitter on January 8th, with that suspension referred to as "permanent" in a statement from the company on the day he was banned.
According to the company, the two tweets that earned him the ban read:
“The 75,000,000 great American Patriots who voted for me, AMERICA FIRST, and MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, will have a GIANT VOICE long into the future. They will not be disrespected or treated unfairly in any way, shape or form!!!”
“To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20th.”
"Due to the ongoing tensions in the United States, and an uptick in the global conversation in regards to the people who violently stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, these two Tweets must be read in the context of broader events in the country and the ways in which the President’s statements can be mobilized by different audiences, including to incite violence, as well as in the context of the pattern of behavior from this account in recent weeks. After assessing the language in these Tweets against our Glorification of Violence policy, we have determined that these Tweets are in violation of the Glorification of Violence Policy and the user @realDonaldTrump should be immediately permanently suspended from the service.," Twitter said.