The independent supervisory board of social media company Facebook has decided not to revoke the suspension of the American ex-president, Donald Trump, on social media Facebook and Instagram.

 

The so-called Oversight Board will announce this on Wednesday.

The supervisory board believes that no indefinite suspension should be imposed because this is not a usual sanction by Facebook. Therefore, the council urges to review the sanction and demands a ‘proportional response in line with the rules that apply to other users of the platform’ within six months.

Trump was banned from Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, among others, after the storming of the Capitol in January, after inciting his followers. The ban on Twitter is permanent, the company said earlier. YouTube wants to unblock its profile when ‘the risk of violence has decreased’.

On Tuesday, Trump launched his own blog, which is very similar to Twitter but only contains posts from Trump himself. Supporters can share the posts on Facebook and Twitter, and so the ex-president can indirectly be found on social media again.

Facebook itself responds Wednesday ‘pleased’ that the supervisory board ‘acknowledged that the unforeseen circumstances justified the exceptional measure’. ‘We will now take into account the council’s decision and issue a clear and proportionate measure. Meanwhile, Mr Trump’s accounts remain suspended.