President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021.
Al Drago | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Facebook on Thursday announced that it will refer its decision to indefinitely suspend the account of former President Donald Trump to its newly instituted Oversight Board.
The independent body, which has been described as Facebook’s “Supreme Court,” will review the decision to suspend Trump and make a binding decision on whether the account will be reinstated. Until a decision is made, Trump’s account will remain suspended, the company said in a blog post.
The board will begin accepting public comments on the case next week, it said in a tweet. It will have up to 90 days to make its decision, but its members have committed to move as quickly as possible, a spokesman for the body told CNBC. A decision can’t be overruled by CEO Mark Zuckerberg or other executives.
After Trump’s comments on social media led to an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 that resulted in the death of five people, Facebook said it hopes that the board will uphold its Jan. 7 decision to indefinitely suspend Trump.
“We believe our decision was necessary and right,” Facebook said in a blog post. “Given its significance, we think it is important for the board to review it and reach an independent judgment on whether it should be upheld.”
The company’s Oversight Board was launched in October with the premise of reviewing difficult content moderation decisions. The Facebook Oversight Board is made up of scholars, journalists and former lawmakers from around the world. This will be the board’s first major case.
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