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Did a Facebook advisory panel decline to overturn the company’s suspension of Trump’s account?

Saturday, May 8, 2021
By Lisa Freedland
YES

On May 5, 2021, an independent expert panel created by Facebook to rule on controversial policy questions declined to restore Donald Trump’s access to the platform. The panel told the company to review the matter and come to a final, “proportionate” and “consistent” response within six months.

Facebook banned Trump on January 7, citing him for “encouraging violence during the Capitol riot” in violation of its standards. The panel said the indefinite term of the ban was “not appropriate” as there were no clear rules or procedure supporting the decision.

“We decided that Facebook was both right and wrong,” one panel member, former Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger, said. The ban was right given Trump’s posts about the riot; the indefinite term was wrong. “Just to say indefinite gives too much power to Facebook.”

Facebook, under rules it set up, has 30 days to respond to the panel.

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