Donald Trump’s Facebook ban extended for six months

Donald Trump has reacted in fury after Facebook’s oversight board upheld the site’s ban on him.

Donald Trump’s Facebook ban has been extended for another six months. Picture; AFP.

The Facebook oversight board upheld the site’s ban on Donald Trump, giving the company six months to decide whether to readmit or permanently delete the former president’s accounts.

The board said that Facebook was right to silence Trump after inflammatory postings on January 6 as his supporters rioted at the US Capitol. It added, however, that it was wrong to issue an indefinite suspension without stating clear criteria for an eventual return or exclusion.

The internet site’s handling of Trump is seen as a test case for establishing the boundaries between free speech and censorship of incitement or misinformation on the platform. Trump and right-wing commentators say they face being cancelled by a powerful private organisation, which they view as part of the liberal media establishment.

Trump’s voice has receded from public discourse in America after the move by Facebook, which has 2.8 billion users, and his permanent ban from Twitter, where he was followed by 88 million accounts. Twitter cited a “risk of further incitement of violence” if he were allowed to remain.

The 20 members on Facebook’s oversight board said: “Given the seriousness of the violations and the ongoing risk of violence, Facebook was justified in suspending Mr Trump’s accounts on January 6 and extending that suspension on January 7. However, it was not appropriate for Facebook to impose the indeterminate and standardless penalty of indefinite suspension.”

The board, recruited to be an independent panel to adjudicate on difficult issues, sent the final decision back to the company and Mark Zuckerberg, 36, the chief executive. The board added that Facebook did not answer questions about whether its algorithms amplified posts by Trump in which he claimed that the election was rigged. The board advised that Facebook review how it might have contributed to the attack on the Capitol and the false narrative of election fraud.

Trump called his suspension “a total disgrace and an embarrassment to our country” by “Radical Left Lunatics”.

A phone screen displays Donald Trump’s statement about the Facebook ban. Picture: AFP.

The board said that two video posts by Trump on January 6 “severely violated” its community standards. In the first, Trump told rioters inside the Capitol: “We love you. You’re very special.” In the second he called them “great patriots” who would “remember this day forever”.

The board has several left-wing members, including Helle Thorning-Schmidt, 54, the former prime minister of Denmark, who is married to the Labour MP Stephen Kinnock, and Alan Rusbridger, 67, former editor of The Guardian.

Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said President Biden believed that social media platforms had “a responsibility related to the health and safety of all Americans to stop amplifying untrustworthy content, disinformation and misinformation, especially related to COVID-19 vaccinations and elections.”

Nick Clegg, 54, the former deputy prime minister who is a Facebook communications executive, said the company was pleased the board had recognised that its decision was “justified”.

Trump is developing an alternative social media presence. He has started a blog on his website called “From the Desk of Donald J Trump”. It is described as a “place to speak freely and safely” but there is no option to comment.

The Times