Facebook has undoubtedly collected volumes of public comment, and now is set to provide its decision on the status of former President Trump’s suspension.
The Mark Zuckerberg company’s independent oversight board tweeted Monday the decision on whether to uphold the Facebook and Instagram ban is coming Wednesday.
During the aftermath of the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol, Facebook blocked Trump’s Facebook and Instagram access because it feared further violence.
The suspension provided a national and international talking point about the state of social media, freedom of speech and just about anything else the political pundits could bring to the forefront.
In fact, the Facebook Oversight Committee was established because of the controversy.
As for the public comments? The board, in mid-April, said it had extended the public comment period on the case and had taken this case so that it could provide Facebook with policy recommendations on suspensions when the user is a political leader.
At the time of the suspension, termed “indefinitely,” Zuckerberg said the company felt “the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great.”
In the days after Jan. 6, Trump also was banned from Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and YouTube.
Trump supporters believe a return to social media for the former president is coming, having told Fox News that Trump plans to start a platform of his own.
“We’re moving forward,” a source told Fox in April. “And President Trump will have his voice back one way or another…. They are trying to completely silence us. It’s not going to work out all too well though, because we’re firing away and starting up our own stuff right now.”
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