Facebook to uphold ban on Trump, board demands review

Facebook’s Oversight Board ruled on Wednesday to uphold the company’s decision to suspend former US President Donald Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts but said that a review should be carried out.

The board added that the indefinite timeframe of the suspension “was not appropriate” and that Facebook should complete the review within six months.

It further said that the subject of the timeframe should be looked into “to determine and justify a proportionate response that is consistent with the rules that are applied to other users of its platform.”

Trump’s accounts were suspended back in January after the 6 January insurrection on the US Capitol. Facebook’s Oversight Board found that the former President had “severly violated” the company’s community standards regarding his posts that day.

“We believe the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote in a post on his Facebook page at the time.

Following the Capitol riot, Trump was suspended from several major tech platforms, including Twitter, YouTube and Snapchat. Twitter made its ban permanent.

"We will now consider the board’s decision and determine an action that is clear and proportionate," Nick Clegg, Facebook vice president of global affairs and communication, published in a blog entry following the decision this week. "In the meantime, Mr. Trump’s accounts remain suspended."