Facebook will begin moderating elected officials' profiles under the same content guidelines it applies to everyone else, according to a report from The Verge.
The announcement expected Friday comes as the website's Oversight Board – the outside group that reviews Facebook's content moderation policies – upheld the decision to ban Donald Trump from Facebook and Instagram. The Board instructed the social network to publicly clarify its process when handling influential figures' accounts, adding "the same rules should apply to all users."
"Facebook should publicly explain the rules that it uses when it imposes account-level sanctions against influential users," the Oversight Board said in a statement.
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The Board, however, decided it was inappropriate for Facebook to suspend former President Trump's accounts indefinitely, calling on the site to define suspension periods and the criteria for having an account restored.
Facebook suspended Trump's Facebook page and Instagram account on January 7, 2021, one day after the insurrection at the Capitol.
In the past, Facebook's leadership had chosen not to fact-check politicians, going for a hands-off approach. According to The Information, a company spokesperson argued regulating politicians' posts was not the social media website's responsibility.
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But the Board pointed to how heads of state and other governmental officials "can have a greater power to cause harm than other people."
The oversight group set a June 5, 2021, deadline for Facebook to respond to its recommendations.