Former President Donald Trump’s Facebook account should remain suspended for the time being, the company’s oversight board announced Wednesday — agreeing that his rhetoric had created "a serious risk of violence" but saying the social network had been "arbitrary" in ousting him indefinitely.
"Within six months of this decision, Facebook must reexamine the arbitrary penalty it imposed on January 7 and decide the appropriate penalty," the board said in its ruling.
The decision comes nearly four months after Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other major social media platforms suspended or blocked Trump’s accounts following the deadly attack on the Capitol that a crowd of his supporters staged on Jan. 6, as lawmakers were certifying now-President Joe Biden's electoral victory. The prospect of Trump's return to the world's largest social media platform has potentially huge implications for American politics, the 2024 election and the balance of power between world leaders and the U.S.-based social media giant.
And it's a judgment call that Facebook cannot escape the responsbility for making, the board's ruling made clear — throwing a major wrench in CEO Mark Zuckerberg's plans to have the board make some of its thorniest decisions.
“Facebook must make its decision and be held accountable for whatever it decides,” Michael McConnell, a former Republican-appointed federal judge and a member of the oversight board, said during a call with reporters after the ruling was announced.
Board members acknowledged that they may have to review the company's handling of Trump yet again if someone appeals Facebook's eventual decision. "I would say it's a substantial possibility," McConnell told reporters.
Reaction across the political spectrum was swift — and not in Facebook's favor, as lawmakers revived calls for taking action to curb the company's power over American political discourse.
"It’s a sad day for Facebook because I can tell you, a number of members of Congress are now looking at, do they break up Facebook?" former Rep. Mark Meadows, who served as Trump's chief of staff during the final year of his presidency, said on Fox News. "Do they make sure that they don't have a monopoly?"
Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, the House Judiciary Committee's top Republican, tweeted: "Break them up."
Meanwhile, House Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) tweeted after the ruling that the ultimate problem is Facebook and other social platforms, not Trump.
"Every day, Facebook is amplifying and promoting disinformation and misinformation, and the structure and rules governing its oversight board generally seem to ignore this disturbing reality," Pallone wrote. "It’s clear that real accountability will only come with legislative action."
Facebook has said the board’s decision would be binding, but that Trump remains booted for now. The company "will now consider the board’s decision and determine an action that is clear and proportionate," Facebook's global affair chief Nick Clegg said in a statement.
In upholding Facebook's decision to suspend Trump, the board found that two of his posts the day of the storming of the Capitol "severely violated" the company's rules against praising or supporting individuals engaged in violence, including his remarks referring those in the mob as "great patriots" and "very special."
It also noted that Trump "created an environment where a serious risk of violence was possible" by spreading false claims about widespread voter fraud in the 2020 elections, and thus that Facebook was "justified" in suspending him.
But the panel rebuked the company for issuing an indefinite ban with no criteria for if or when Trump's posts or account could be restored.
The verdict comes after Democratic officials, civil rights leaders and other advocates spent years calling on Facebook to crack down on posts by Trump they argued blatantly violated its policies against harassment, bullying, hate speech and rhetoric that incites violence. Conservatives tech critics, meanwhile, have railed against social media companies’ takedowns of Trump’s accounts as an affront to free speech online and evidence of an anti-GOP bias among Silicon Valley companies such as Facebook and Twitter.
The former president has sought to maintain a public presence in the interim by issuing tweet-like official statements through his office. In recent months he’s also mused about returning to social media by launching his own rival platform.
Emily Birnbaum and Quint Forgey contributed to this report.
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