After months of back-and-forth with its oversight board; Facebook finally decided to ban the account of former President Donald Trump for a period of two years, until January 2023, and also announced changes to its policy towards the posts of leaders and political leaders.
The American newspaper “The Washington Post” stated – in a report – that there are five things you should know about this decision, which is considered the “most important” ever in the history of the blue giant.
1. Trump is banned…but only for two years
The company had banned Trump from the Facebook and Instagram platforms last January “indefinitely”, but it left his accounts on both sites open and allowed people to comment while preventing him from accessing or posting on them.
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The latest decision bans Trump’s account for two years; Which means that in 2023 – that is, the year before the next presidential election – he can be allowed again to return to the platform, but according to “determinants”, as the company will then consult with “experts” about the possibility of allowing him to return again, focusing primarily on any potential risks. The decision to lift the ban on public safety.
2. Greater transparency about the consequences of violating site rules
The most obvious change that Facebook made on Friday – according to the newspaper – was to identify some of the consequences for users who violate the site’s content policies, whether they are ordinary users or public figures.
The site said that this came in response to criticism leveled at it by the company’s supervisory board, which talked about the occurrence of “arbitrary decisions” instead of having transparent controls and rules that apply to all users.
But even under the new system, violating the site’s rules will not automatically lead to penalties for violators, and the company stated – in a post on the site’s blog about the new rules – that “the application of penalties depends on the severity of the published content, the time of its publication and the context in which it was shared.”
Facebook and other social media companies have generally allowed some posts to break their rules about incitement to violence or nudity, for example; And that is if it is actually broadcast that they are publications of news value, and the company stated that it applied this matter to the posts of some politicians, although it did not mention who they were and when this was done.
Facebook says – after its last decision – that it will take into account a set of measures when making exceptions according to the “news value” criterion, such as whether the publication will help others to avoid the danger and the political situation in the country at the time of publication, but it confirms – at the same time – that any content Excluded from the ban under this rule can be omitted if there is a possibility that it could lead to violence or other types of disturbances.