Facebook Must Apply the Brandenburg Standard to Keep Trump off its Platforms
It has been over 120 days since Trump was de-platformed and last Wednesday’s ruling by Facebook’s Oversight Board upheld the social media company’s ban on Donald Trump from its platforms. The Board found “Mr. Trump created an environment where a serious risk of violence was possible.” This finding justified the banning but found fault with Facebook for their hasty decision without clear criteria. The decision to uphold Trump’s ban will be reevaluated in six months. During this time, Facebook must “review this matter to determine and justify a proportionate response that is consistent with the rules that are applied to other users of its platform.”
For four years Trump weaponized social media and used his platform to peddle lies and spread disinformation. The threat Trump poses to American democracy came to an apex with the January 6th insurrection on the U.S. Capitol. Immediately following the domestic terror attack, Facebook stripped Trump of the ability to reach his 35 million Facebook followers and 24 million Instagram followers. The decision to uphold Trump’s ban is a step in the right direction for defusing disinformation from one of social media’s biggest culprits.
The Board’s ruling to uphold Trump’s ban on social media has wider implications for how the speech of political leaders…
