Photo from Donald Trump’s Instagram account (subsidiary of Facebook). – A.MOURAD / SIPA
Donald Trump going to find his megaphone? Banned from Twitter and Facebook after the Capitol riots, the former US president struggled to be heard with his near-daily press releases during Joe Biden’s first 100 days. But he could make his return to Facebook if the network’s supervisory board, which is due to make its decision on Wednesday, overturns his ouster.
Established last year, the body, a sort of Supreme Court of moderation funded by Facebook but supposed to operate independently, said Monday that it would render its decision on Donald Trump’s account on Wednesday at 9 a.m. (3 p.m., Paris time).
The Oversight Board will announce its decision on the case concerning former US President Trump on its website at https://t.co/NNQ9YCrcrhon May 5, 2021 at approximately 9:00 am EDT.
– Oversight Board (@OversightBoard) May 3, 2021
Freedom of expression against incitement to violence
Facebook and other social networks have banned the former US president, arguing that the Republican billionaire had encouraged a crowd of supporters to invade the Capitol in Washington on January 6 during the certification of the victory of Joe Biden in the election of November 2020.
Facebook and Twitter justified their decisions by arguing that the former president, who had until then benefited from his status as a public figure, had violated the regulations of their platforms. But some experts and politicians denounced an attack on freedom of expression, even censorship.
In its first decisions, the supervisory board almost always ruled in favor of freedom of expression. But this is the first time that the body has to examine such a media case. And while Donald Trump still spoke of a “rigged election” this weekend, during a speech to supporters at his Mar-a-Lago golf club, the council could consider that the threat to democracy is more than ever relevant.