Facebook Oversight Board Begins Accepting Public Comments on Donald Trump’s Suspension

If you have an opinion on Facebook’s decision to indefinitely suspend the Facebook and Instagram accounts of former President Donald Trump—and really, who doesn’t?—you can now share your thoughts with the social network’s independent content oversight board, which is reviewing the case. The oversight board said Friday that public feedback can be submitted via this form. The board said in introducing the two posts by Trump that spurred Facebook’s action, “On Jan. 6, 2021, Congress was gathered at the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election. Earlier that day, then-U.S. President Donald Trump attended a rally near the White House in Washington, D.C., where he spoke of the need to ‘fight like hell’ and stated, ‘We’re going to the Capitol.’ Many of those attending the rally then marched on the U.S. Capitol building. In the ensuing riots, which led to five deaths, two pieces of content were posted on President Trump’s Facebook page, which has 35 million followers. The first of these was also posted on his Instagram account, which has 24 million followers.” The first post was a one-minute video posted to the two platforms by Trump while rioters were still in the building and backup law enforcement was responding. He said, “I know your pain, I know you’re hurt. We had an election that was stolen from us. It was a landslide election and everyone knows it, especially the other side. But you have to go home now. We have to have peace. We have to have law and order. We have to respect our great people in law and order. We don’t want anybody hurt. It’s a very tough period of time. There’s never been a time like this where such a thing happened, where they could take it away from all of us—from me, from you, from our country. This was a fraudulent election, but we can't play into the hands of these people. We have to have peace. So, go home. We love you. You're very special. You've seen what happens. You see the way others are treated that are so bad and so evil. I know how you feel. But go home and go home in peace." The second post on Facebook later that day, as the Capitol was being secured, read, “These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously and viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly and unfairly treated for so long. Go home with love and in peace. Remember this day forever!” Both posts were removed for violations of Facebook’s community standard on dangerous individuals and organizations, and the company said in its referral of the case to the oversight board that its decision was made in extraordinary circumstances. The oversight board said it is seeking public comments that address: Whether Facebook’s decision to suspend President Trump’s accounts for an indefinite period complied with the company’s responsibilities to respect freedom of expression and human rights, if alternative measures should have been taken and what measures should be taken for these accounts going forward. How Facebook should assess off-Facebook context in enforcing its community standards, particularly where Facebook seeks to determine whether content may incite violence.How Facebook should treat the expression of political candidates, office holders and former office holders considering their varying positions of power, the importance of political opposition and the public's right to information The accessibility of Facebook’s rules for account-level enforcement (e.g., disabling accounts or account functions) and appeals against that enforcement.Considerations for the consistent global enforcement of Facebook’s content policies against political leaders, whether at the content-level (e.g., content removal) or account-level (e.g., disabling account functions), including the relevance of Facebook’s “newsworthiness” exemption” and Facebook’s human rights responsibilities. The deadline for submissions is Monday, Feb. 8 at 10 a.m. ET, and they must be in English. Other requirements follow: They should be no more than two pages in PDF, Word or .txt format, Times New Roman 12-point font.They must include the commenter’s full name and organization.They must respond to the issues identified by the oversight board. The board concluded, “The oversight board expects to receive a large volume of submissions and will review this initial process once the oversight board has a better understanding of needs and resources. The panels reviewing cases will consider submissions at their sole discretion, and do not expect to be able to consider every submission in their deliberations.”

Politics

Facebook Oversight Board Begins Accepting Public Comments on Donald Trump’s Suspension

They are due Feb. 8 and must respond to specific issues

David Cohen

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David Cohen