Facebook Oversight Board to rule on Trump ban Wednesday

Facebook’s Oversight Board will announce its decision on the case weighing whether to permanently ban or reinstate former President Trump’s account on Wednesday.

The board tweeted the update on Monday, after seemingly delaying the decision from its expected timeline.

The decision will be announced on the Oversight Board website on Wednesday around 9 a.m., the board tweeted.

The Oversight Board will announce its decision on the case concerning former US President Trump on its website at https://t.co/NNQ9YCrcrh on May 5, 2021 at approximately 9:00 a.m. EDT.

— Oversight Board (@OversightBoard) May 3, 2021

The case involves Trump’s suspension from the platform in January after posts he made regarding the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol were taken down. 

Facebook referred the decision to the Oversight Board on Jan. 21. The board typically makes a decision within 90 days, based on the process it lays out on its website, meaning the decision was expected to be announced by late April.

In mid-April, the board released a statement saying the decision was coming in “coming weeks” and noted that it had extended the public comments deadline for the case. The board said it received more than 9,000 responses.

The board’s decision on whether to ban or reinstate Trump’s accounts could impact Facebook’s decisions on global political leaders down the road. The platform requested the board’s recommendation on suspension when the user is a political leader when it referred the case. 

But although Facebook has committed to following all the board’s rulings in terms of content removal, it has not committed to implementing all policy recommendations related to the rulings.