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Trump’s Facebook ban likely to be overturned in coming weeks 

Trump Facebook ban Oversight board coming weeks

Facebook’s Oversight Board is likely to announce in the coming weeks regarding Trump’s Facebook ban and his return on Facebook and Instagram, Bloomberg reported.

Trump’s Facebook ban decision might overturn in the coming weeks

The board seems confident to lift the ban on Trump’s use of Facebook based on its recent judgments in other cases. Trump’s Facebook ban started as a result of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

If Trump returns to social media, the move will strengthen his effort to show dominance in the Republican Party. Moreover, it could also realign political speech methods for around 2.8 million Facebook users. The company would then face difficulty in taking down negative content and harmful actors. A favorable decision for Donald Trump could also impact other social media platforms like Twitter. Trump faced a ban there permanently after the Capitol devastation. YouTube had issued a statement that it would end Trump’s suspension when the threat of political violence will slow down.

The social media giant had sufficient evidence to distance Trump from his huge following on Facebook as well as Instagram. However, regarding Trump’s suspension call, Facebook said “it sought to prevent the use of our platform to incite violent insurrection against a democratically elected government.”

Oversight Board

But the company moved the decision to its Oversight Board. It is a non-judicial body launched last year to analyze decisions related to content moderation and publish instructions to the company. The board consists of 20 academics, lawyers, and civic leaders. The ex-prime minister of Denmark and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate are also among the board members.

In Trump’s case, the board only took two posts from Jan. 6. Trump was speaking to the rioters in a video that they had an election stolen from them.

In another post, when police were guarding the Capitol, he said, “These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously ripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long.”

The case structure indicates that the board may not focus on the broader context. That is, the way Trump used Facebook and Instagram in the past months to weaken people’s trust in voting and the power shifting.

About the author

Jike Eric

Jike Eric has completed his degree program in Chemical Engineering. Jike covers Business and Tech news on Insider Paper.







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