US: Oversight Board delays decision on Donald Trump's Facebook ban

The independent Oversight Board has announced to delay its decision on former US President Donald Trump's ban from Facebook and Instagram that will now arrive "in the coming weeks".

The board, constituted by Facebook with 20 members from across the world last year, said it is reviewing more than 9,000 responses before it delivers the verdict on Trump's ban on the social media giant.

"We extended the public comments deadline for this case, receiving 9,000+ responses. The Board's commitment to carefully reviewing all comments has extended the case timeline, in line with the Board's bylaws," the Board said in a tweet late Friday.

Facebook banned Trump from its platforms after the Capitol Hill attack on January 6.

Company CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that "the risks of allowing President Trump to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great".

Trump is still banned from using Facebook and its other platforms.

The Board said it will announce "its decision on the case concerning former US President Trump's indefinite suspension from Facebook and Instagram in the coming weeks".

Earlier this week, the Board noted that it will begin accepting cases from Facebook and Instagram users who believe the company wrongfully allowed harmful content to remain on its platforms.

The content eligible for review includes posts, status updates, photos, videos, comments, and shares.

Decisions made through the Board's independent judgment are binding on Facebook.

The Oversight Board on January made 17 recommendations, based on the six cases, for Facebook to improve its content moderation.

Since October 2020, users have been able to appeal to the Oversight Board about their own content being removed.

So far, the Board has received over 300,000 user appeals and thousands of public comments.

--IANS

na/ksk/