Facebook’s content oversight board said that in the “coming weeks,” it’ll deliver a decision on former President Donald Trump’s indefinite suspension from the social network. In a tweet Friday, the group said it’s “extended the case timeline” in order to carefully review the more than 9,000 public comments it received on the case.
Facebook banned Trump from its platforms after the January 6th insurrection at the Capitol, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg writing that “the risks of allowing President Trump to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great.” Trump has remained banned from the services, and his attempts to appear in videos on his children’s pages have also been blocked. But the ban was always “indefinite,” and it’s now up to Facebook’s new Oversight Board to make a call about when and how Trump might be allowed to return, if ever.
In January, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg made the decision to indefinitely ban Trump from the social network, following the Jan. 6 insurrection on Capitol Hill. Facebook then sent that decision to the oversight board on Jan. 21. The 20 member board has up to 90 days to reach a decision on most cases, which in this instance would’ve meant a ruling next week.
