AUDIO ABOVE: Facebook Oversight Board's Michael McConnell explains the decision.
NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Facebook's quasi-independent Oversight Board has upheld the social media site’s decision to suspend former President Donald Trump’s accounts after the January riot at the U.S. Capitol—but it said the company must reassess his indefinite ban.
The board found two of Trump's posts on Jan. 6 "severely violated" Facebook's guidelines and that the company "was justified in suspending" his Facebook and Instagram accounts for violating rules "prohibiting praise or support of people engaged in violence."
However, the board found that it was “not appropriate for Facebook to impose the indeterminate and standardless penalty of indefinite suspension.”
The board said Facebook has six months to review the “arbitrary penalty” imposed on the former president and decide on an "appropriate penalty" that "must be based on the gravity of the violation and the prospect of future harm."
“The Board insists that Facebook 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,” the board wrote.
If Facebook decides to restore Trump's accounts, the company "must address any further violations promptly," the board said.
In addition to Facebook and Instagram, Trump was permanently banned from Twitter in January.
Trump responded to the news in a statement Wednesday: "What Facebook, Twitter, and Google have done is a total disgrace and an embarrassment to our Country. Free Speech has been taken away from the President of the United States because the Radical Left Lunatics are afraid of the truth, but the truth will come out anyway, bigger and stronger than ever before. The People of our Country will not stand for it! These corrupt social media companies must pay a political price, and must never again be allowed to destroy and decimate our Electoral Process."
After news of the board's decision Wednesday, supporters of Trump protested outside of Facebook's headquarters in Manhattan, video shows.
Related
