Facebook Board’s on Trump Decision Could Have Wider Impacts
Facebook Board’s on Trump Decision Could Have Wider Impacts
Since the day after the deadly riots on the U.S. Capitol grounds on Jan. 6, former President Trump's social media accounts have been silent — muzzled for inciting violence through the platforms' use as online megaphones.
On Wednesday, his fate on Facebook, the world's largest social network, will be determined. Around 9 a.m. ET, the company's quasi-independent Oversight Board, will announce its decision. Facebook has 7 days to reinstate the account if the court rules in Trump's favor. If the board upholds Facebook's decision, Trump's suspension will remain "indefinite."
Politicians, free speech experts, and activists from all over the world are closely monitoring the decision. It has ramifications for Trump and technology companies, world leaders, and citizens across the political spectrum, many of whom hold diametrically opposed views on the proper role of technology companies in regulating online speech and protecting citizens from abuse and misinformation.
After years of putting up with Trump's inflammatory rhetoric, Facebook and Instagram took the unprecedented step of shutting down his accounts in January. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated in announcing the unprecedented move that the risk involve in allowing Trump to continue using the platform was too great.
"The shocking events demonstrate unequivocally that President Donald Trump intention was to use the time he has left in office to undermine the lawful and peaceful transition of power to his elected successor" Zuckerberg wrote on Jan. 7 on his Facebook page.
While Trump's advisers have spent months teasing the possibility of him launching his own social media platform, his spokesman Jason Miller insisted the blog was distinct.
“While President Trump's website is an excellent resource for accessing his most recent statements and highlights from his first term, this is not a new social media platform,” he tweeted. “Additional information on that front will be forthcoming in the very near future.”
Predicament of Trump’s Action
Trump, who has been barred from social media, has embraced alternative platforms for communicating his message. He conducts frequent interviews with sympathetic news organizations and has sent a barrage of statements to reporters via his official office and political action committee.
Trump has even stated that he prefers the statements to his previous tweets, frequently referring to them as "elegant."
Following widespread criticism of Facebook's inability to respond swiftly and effectively to misinformation, hate speech, and nefarious influence campaigns, the company established the oversight panel to rule on thorny content on its platforms. Its decisions thus far — all nine — have tended to favor freedom of expression over content restriction.
The panel reversed four out of five decisions by the social network to remove questionable content in its initial rulings. It ordered Facebook to restore all posts by users it claimed violated company policies on adult nudity, hate speech, and dangerous individuals.
However, critics of Facebook fear that the Oversight Board is a diversion from the company's deeper issues — issues that cannot be addressed in a few high-profile cases by a semi-independent body of experts.
“Facebook establishes the rules, acts as judge, jury, and executioner, and has its own appeals court and Supreme Court. Their decisions have ramifications for our democracies, national security, and biosecurity, and they cannot be left to their own in-house comedy of errors,” said Imran Ahmed, CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, a nonprofit critical of Facebook. “Regardless of the outcome tomorrow, this entire fiasco demonstrates why we require democratic regulation of Big Tech.”
Gautam Hans, a professor of technology law and free speech at Vanderbilt University, described the Oversight Board structure as "frustrating and a bit of a sideshow to the larger policy and social issues surrounding these companies."
“To a certain extent, Facebook is attempting to establish an accountability mechanism that, in my opinion, undermines efforts to enact government regulation and legislation,” Hans explained. “If any other company decided to outsource decision-making to some quasi-independent body, that would be considered absurd.”
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