The URL and logo of the social media Facebook displayed on a laptop computer.
Social media’s Facebook oversight board said on Friday (April 16) that it will announce in the coming weeks whether it will overturn the platform’s decision to indefinitely block former U.S. President Donald Trump’s account.
As an independent body within the company, the Facebook Watchdog Committee claims to be able to use its independent adjudication capabilities to support the rights of users to freely express their opinions and to ensure that those rights are fully respected. And once the Board decides to uphold or reverse the disposition of the Facebook platform, its ruling will be binding, meaning that Facebook must enforce the matters required by the ruling without violating the law.
The oversight board usually issues its ruling within 90 days of the case being referred. on Jan. 21, Facebook referred the ban against Trump’s account to the board.
“The Commission will announce its decision in the coming weeks in the case against former U.S. President Donald Trump’s indefinite suspension from Facebook and Instagram. We extended the deadline for public comment in this case and received more than 9,000 responses.” The oversight committee said in a new statement on Friday.
In the statement, the commission “promised to carefully review all comments and, in accordance with the commission’s charter, extended the timeline for the case. We will share more information soon.”
The Facebook Watchdog Committee told the public on Jan. 29 that they had until Feb. 8 to submit comments on the shutdown of Trump’s account.
Facebook initially suspended Trump’s account on Jan. 7. The day before, a rally and march was held in Washington, D.C., to protest election fraud, during which people broke into the Capitol, including some Trump supporters.
Following the congressional riots, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said, “We believe it is too risky to allow President (Trump) to continue using our services during this time.
Trump’s Facebook account has since been suspended indefinitely. But the incident has also sparked a debate in the U.S. about whether Facebook censorship violates citizens’ freedom of speech and whether Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act should be repealed.
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