Facebook Oversight Board Member Criticizes Indefinite Trump Suspension

Contact Your Elected Officials
The Epoch Times

A member of Facebookโ€™s Oversight Board criticized the social media platformโ€™s indefinite suspension of former President Donald Trumpโ€™s account, saying the companyโ€™s rules are problematic.

The quasi-independent Oversight Board last week upheld a ban on the former commander-in-chiefโ€™s account due to his comments on Jan. 6.

โ€œWe gave them a certain amount of time to get their house in order,โ€ board member Michael McConnell, a former federal judge, told Fox News. โ€œThey needed some time because their rules are a shambles. They are not transparent. They are unclear. They are internally inconsistent. So we made a series of recommendations about how to make their rules clearer and more consistent.โ€

Adding that Facebook โ€œexercises too much power,โ€ McConnell said Trump is โ€œsubject to the same rules on Facebook as everyone else.โ€

โ€œThe Oversight Board held that this was in fact a violation and thus Facebook was justified in taking them down,โ€ McConnell said May 9. โ€œWhat we did say, though, was that they were not justified in taking him down indefinitely, that they did not provide any reasons for that, that is not a provision in their rules. That was wrong.โ€

Facebook, he added, handed down an โ€œarbitraryโ€ decision as the board seeks to โ€œbring some of the most important principles of the First Amendment, of free expression law globally, into this operation.โ€

The board gave Facebook six months to review Trumpโ€™s indefinite ban, adding that that the company โ€œviolated its own rules.โ€

After Facebookโ€™s decision, Republicans said they would further regulate the Menlo Park, California-based firm and other big tech companies.

โ€œFacebook is more interested in acting like a Democrat Super PAC than a platform for free speech and open debate. If they can ban President Trump, all conservative voices could be next. A House Republican majority will rein in Big Tech power over our speech,โ€ House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) wrote on Twitter on May 5.

Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) also called for โ€œaggressive antitrust reformโ€ to end what he described as Facebookโ€™s monopoly.

Facebook, Twitter, Google, Amazon, and other tech companies have faced backlash over their decision to ban Trump. Some other critics included German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Mexican President Andrรฉs Manuel Lรณpez Obrador.

โ€œI donโ€™t like censorship,โ€ Lรณpez Obradorย toldย a news conference in January. โ€œI donโ€™t like anyone to be censored and for them to have their right taken away to send a message on Twitter or on Facebook.โ€

BYย JACK PHILLIPS

Read Full Article on TheEpochTimes.com

The Epoch Times
The Epoch Timeshttps://www.theepochtimes.com/
Tired of biased news? The Epoch Times is truthful, factual news that other media outlets don't report. No spin. No agenda. Just honest journalism like it used to be.

Was Texas Storm Manmade?

Another โ€œ1-in-100 yearsโ€ weather event in Kerr County happened next to a Texas designated โ€œWeather Modification Map of Rain-Enhancement Projects in Texasโ€.

The America Party Will Harm Democrats The Most

Elon Musk formed the America Party after an X poll asking his followers if they wanted โ€œindependence from the two-party system!

Democrats Exhibit the Dunning-Kruger Effect (DKE)

โ€œThe Dunning-Kruger effect is a cognitive bias where people with low ability at a task overestimate their competence, while those with high ability underestimate their competence.

250 Countdown

Those 56 intrepid men who signed put their very lives, honor and fortunes on the line. There was no auto-quill to accommodate their signatures.ย 

How the Senate Parliamentarian Changed the OBBB

An unelected bureaucrat does a important job in the U.S. Senate. Elizabeth MacDonough enforces senate rules on Trumpโ€™s โ€œOne Big Beautiful Billโ€.

Trial Begins Over Trump Adminโ€™s Deportations of Pro-Palestinian Students

A trial over President Trumpโ€™s attempts to deport pro-Palestinian activists began on July 7 with attorneys debating free speech.

Man Killed After Opening Fire at Border Patrol Facility in Texas

27-year-old man armed with a rifle was killed after opening fire outside Border Patrol facility in McAllen, TX, prompting shootout with feds and local police.

California Rejects Federal Push to End Transgender Participation in School Sports

CA education officials are refusing to end policies allowing transgender students to participate in school sports consistent with their gender identities.

Amazon Prime Day Set to Lift US Online Sales by $23.8 Billion

Online spending in the United States is expected to surge by $23.8 billion during Amazonโ€™s expanded Prime Day event from July 8 to July 11.

Trump to Extend Tariff Deadline to Aug. 1, Keep Rates at 10 Percent During Talks

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Trump will sign the order to move the deadline to Aug. 1 from its current date of July 9.

DOJ, FBI Find Epstein Committed Suicide, Had No โ€˜Client Listโ€™

Jeffrey Epstein committed suicide and had no โ€œclient list,โ€ according to the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the FBI.

National Weather Service Fully Staffed During Deadly Texas Flooding: White House

White House press sec. Karoline Leavitt told reporters that the National Weather Service had a full staff on hand to handle the Central Texas flooding.

US Removes Terrorist Designation for Al Qaeda Affiliate in Syria

The State Department has removed from its list of foreign terrorist organizations Al Qaedaโ€™s affiliate in Syria, Jabhat al-Nusra.
spot_img

Related Articles