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A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Contact:

Ian Weiner, idweiner@lawyerscommittee.org

Facebook Oversight Board Punts on Trump Ban Decision, Ignores His Long History of Hate and Disinformation

Allowing Trump back on the platform would bolster white supremacist threats and endanger our democracy.

WASHINGTON

The Facebook Oversight Board announced Wednesday that it has upheld former President Trump's temporary suspension, but has pushed the decision for a permanent ban back to Facebook to be reconsidered within six months. The Board rendered its decision without accounting for Trump's full history of making racist, violent, and untrue statements on Facebook. The following is a statement from David Brody, who leads the Digital Justice Initiative at the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law:

"For the good of the nation, Facebook must immediately and permanently ban former President Trump. He used Facebook to endanger our democracy, empower hateful violence, and promote racial division. Continuing to drag this decision out only causes more harm."

"In their decision today, the Facebook Oversight Board made many of the same errors that Facebook makes in its own enforcement decisions. It did not evaluate the full context of the case and it used legal technicalities to avoid answering hard questions. For example, it failed to address Trump's repeated use of Facebook to inflame hate and racism, or his long history of spreading divisive lies and disinformation prior to the 2020 election. Over-reliance on formalist schools of legal analysis entrenches dominant power structures by turning a blind eye to the big picture."

The Lawyers' Committee is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to enlist the private bar's leadership and resources in combating racial discrimination and the resulting inequality of opportunity - work that continues to be vital today.

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