Facebook’s new independent oversight board is set to decide what happens to the account of the suspended former US President Donald Trump. Facebook CEO Nick Clegg wrote this in a blog post on Thursday.
Trump’s account is currently blocked on Facebook and Instagram. This happened because of messages he posted after the violent storming of the US Capitol building on January 6.
Facebook’s newly created censorship board will decide whether to lift the blockade. The Supervisory Board is an independent body within the company that assesses whether messages on Facebook have been properly deleted. Board decisions cannot be reversed by anyone.
“The oversight board has closely followed developments in the United States and Facebook’s reaction,” the censorship board wrote Thursday. “We are ready to conduct a comprehensive and independent investigation into Facebook’s decision to suspend Trump.”
Trump has been banned indefinitely for now. “We believe our decision was necessary and correct,” wrote Nick Clegg. “But given the importance of the issue, we believe it is important for the board to examine it and make an independent judgment.” When this judgment appears is not clear.
Other tech companies also intervened after Trump’s reactions to the Capitol storming. For example, his Twitter account has been permanently closed and YouTube has decided that Trump cannot post new videos for several weeks.
