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Donald Trump: In January he lost his Facebook account
Photo: FIRS MAURY / EPA-EFE / Shutterstock
Donald Trump committed serious violations of Facebook's community guidelines and was allowed to be locked out for this: The so-called Oversight Board, a largely independent supervisory body, albeit a supervisory body established by Facebook itself, has the company's decision to withdraw the ex-US president from its Ban platforms approved.
However, the company must reassess the permanent ban.
There are no criteria for this in the guidelines.
Within six months, Facebook must therefore pronounce an "appropriate penalty" that corresponds to the severity of the violation, but is in line with Facebook's rules - which may have to be revised for this.
It is also conceivable to give Trump access to his accounts again.
Facebook banned Trump shortly before the end of his term in office after his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6 and firstly expressed sympathy for them and secondly continued to claim without evidence that the victory in the presidential election had been stolen from him through massive fraud .
Because there is no clear legal requirement for such a case in the USA, Facebook wanted to have its decision reviewed by the committee that was set up specifically for such cases.
On the one hand, it should be about the specific case: Was the decision to ban Trump permanently, justified and may it be upheld?
The special thing about it was how contextual this decision was: It was about the events in the Capitol and how they were possibly fueled by Trump - even if the storm of the congress building would probably have taken place anyway.
The Oversight Board now had to decide whether the President's words were a direct violation of Community guidelines or, strictly speaking, were allowed - and if so, to what extent they should be viewed in isolation from the consequences.
On the other hand, Facebook wanted to know how it should deal in the future with political leaders such as heads of state and government who violate its guidelines.
Facebook pays $ 130 million for its board of directors
However, only the decision of the oversight board on the first set of questions is binding for Facebook.
However, Facebook does not have to implement the recommendations on how to deal with comparable cases in the future.
The body began its work in October 2020.
The first 20 members, including the former Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt and the former Guardian editor-in-chief Alan Rusbridger, selected Facebook - which was naturally inevitable.
The current line-up cannot be viewed as particularly Facebook-friendly. The Oversight Board also selects future members itself. The funding is secured for six years, with $ 130 million available.
