Facebook Oversight Board upholds Trump ban, says proper penalty wasn’t imposed

Facebook’s Oversight Board on Wednesday upheld the decision of the company to ban former US President Donald Trump’s from the platform, settling a much-debated question about what the platform’s first response should be while dealing with world leaders who violate its terms of service.

The Board stated in a post announcing the decision that it found that the two posts by Trump on January 6 in connection with the US Capitol violence, severely violated Facebook’s Community Standards and Instagram’s Community Guidelines. “Given the seriousness of the violations and the ongoing risk of violence, Facebook was justified in suspending Mr. Trump’s accounts on January 6 and extending that suspension on January 7,” the board observed.