In a May 5, 2021, statement, President Trump trashed big tech for restricting his free speech:
“What Facebook, Twitter, and Google have done is a total disgrace and an embarrassment to our Country. Free Speech has been taken away from the President of the United States because the Radical Left Lunatics are afraid of the truth, but the truth will come out anyway, bigger and stronger than ever before. The People of our Country will not stand for it! These corrupt social media companies must pay a political price, and must never again be allowed to destroy and decimate our Electoral Process”.
On Wednesday, Facebook’s Oversight Board upheld Trump’s ban from Facebook and Instagram, but said it was “not appropriate” to impose the “indeterminate and standardless penalty of indefinite suspension.”
“The Board has upheld Facebook’s decision on January 7, 2021, to restrict President Trump’s ability to post content on his Facebook page and Instagram account,” the board said in a statement. The board told Facebook to review the “arbitrary” indefinite ban in six months saying in a tweet that the company “violated its own rules.”
Facebook launched the oversight board to review its decisions from last year after criticisms that its standards for suspension and removal are unclear and selectively enforced.
Trump wrote in his last Facebook post on Jan. 6:
“I am asking for everyone at the U.S. Capitol to remain peaceful,” and “No violence! Remember, WE are the Party of Law & Order – respect the Law and our great men and women in Blue. Thank you!”
