WASHINGTON • Then US President Donald Trump encouraged Capitol rioters and so earned his Facebook ban, but the social media giant's rules are in "shambles" and need fixing, the co-chair of the network's oversight panel said.
It agreed days ago that Facebook was right to oust Mr Trump for his comments on the deadly Jan 6 rampage, though it sidestepped a decision on whether he will ever be allowed back on the platform. "He issued these statements which were just egging on - with perfunctory asking for peace - but mostly he was just egging them on to continue," co-chair Michael McConnell told Fox News on Sunday.
Mr Trump was suspended from Facebook and Instagram after posting a video during the attack by supporters challenging his election loss, in which he told them: "We love you, you're very special."
However, the panel gave Facebook six months to justify why his ban should be permanent, leaving a grenade in founder Mark Zuckerberg's lap on the issue of free speech and spotlighting weaknesses in the firm's plan for self-regulation. "We gave them (Facebook) a certain amount of time to get... their house in order," Professor McConnell said. "They needed some time because their rules are in shambles... They are unclear, they are internally inconsistent."
Prof McConnell, a constitutional law professor at Stanford, noted that the social media giant was not violating Mr Trump's free speech rights. "The simple willing answer is private companies are not bound by the First Amendment," he said, referring to the United States Constitution. "He's a customer. Facebook is not a government, and he is not a citizen of Facebook."
In its ruling, the oversight board - envisioned by Mr Zuckerberg as the equivalent of a "supreme court" for thorny content decisions - made additional recommendations on dealing with potentially harmful content from world leaders. It "called on Facebook to address widespread confusion about how decisions relating to influential users are made" and said "considerations of newsworthiness should not take priority when urgent action is needed to prevent significant harm".
Twitter has permanently suspended Mr Trump since the Capitol riot, saying there was a risk he would further incite violence, due to his multiple tweets disputing Mr Joe Biden's presidential election victory. It confirmed last Thursday that it had pulled the plug on several Trump-linked accounts trying to skirt the ban.
Social media had been key to Mr Trump's political success, letting him fire off comments without having to explain or back his claims. At a recent hearing on Capitol Hill, US lawmakers unleashed criticism at the leaders of the top social networks, and promised new rules.
Mr Zuckerberg, Twitter's Mr Jack Dorsey, and Google's Mr Sundar Pichai faced questions from lawmakers who blamed their platforms for political extremism, drug abuse, teen suicides and more.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
