The ban raises questions about free speech and online platforms’ power. Even Senator Bernie Sanders, no Trump fan, confesses to feeling uncomfortable that the ex-president has been silenced by a “handful of high-tech people”. YouTube’s boss, Susan Wojcicki, has said the video firm will lift its suspension only “when we determine that the risk of violence has decreased”. Twitter will not relent, full-stop.
Mr Zuckerberg floated the idea of the board in 2018, and its first slate of members was announced last year. It is meant to be an independent body that can render binding decisions on the social-media giant and suggest policy tweaks. Facebook has put $130m into a trust to fund it for at least six years. Board members are a global bevy of brainiacs: ten are academics, five work in non-profits and think-tanks, two hail from journalism, one from politics and one is a Nobel peace laureate.
The dozen cases are a varied bunch. Was Facebook right to take down images of blackface? Or a photo of a bare nipple raising awareness of breast cancer? Or a video arguing for access to an unproven treatment for covid-19? Of the seven cases it has ruled on, the board overturned Facebook’s decision five times. It does not take into account the laws of any specific country but weighs Facebook’s “community standards” and “values” with international human-rights law.
Either way, controversy will continue. “Facebook is still holding the reins far too tight,” says Ms Douek. On April 13th it announced that the board would have authority to review appeals related to content that had been kept on the platform. Until now the board has only been able to review appeals against the removal of content.
It better not.
Trump on censorship & freespeech ... 2018
The first day he'd post something that would make them take him right back down.