Trump v Facebook: Ex-president rages at ban as White House says tech has responsibility to public

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of US politics and today’s decision over whether to uphold Donald Trump’s Facebook ban.

A decision from Facebook Inc’s oversight board on whether to uphold Donald Trump’s indefinite suspension from the platform is expected later today.

The former US president was barred from a slew of social media platforms following the deadly 6 January storming of the U.S Capitol by his supporters.

The long-awaited ruling will bring the focus back onto how the world’s largest social network decides what world leaders and politicians can and can’t say on their platforms.

It is expected Wednesday morning in America - or early afternoon UK time.

Additional reporting by Reuters

When Donald Trump was banned “indefinitely” by Facebook in the wake of January’s US Capitol attack it became the first social media company to meaningfully silence him.

Here is a reminder of how the ban came about:

Ahead of today’s ruling, Donald Trump has launched a “communications platform” months after being banned by most social media sites including Facebook and Twitter.

Online comments regarding the announcement were sarcastically confused - but amused.

Oliver O’Connell has the full story:

Facebook banned Donald Trump “indefinitely” over two incendiary posts but there are thousands more they could have silenced the ex-president over, media experts say.

Graeme Massie in Los Angeles reports:

Donald Trump’s fate on Facebook, the biggest social platform around, will be decided today.

If an independent panel rules in Trump’s favor, Facebook has seven days to reinstate the account.

If the board upholds Facebook‘s decision, Mr Trump will remain “indefinitely” suspended.

Politicians, free speech experts and activists around the world are watching the decision closely.

It has implications not only for Mr Trump but for tech companies, world leaders and people across the political spectrum — many of whom have wildly conflicting views of the proper role for technology companies when it comes to regulating online speech and protecting people from abuse and misinformation.

Associated Press

The former president has launched his own blogging page called‘ From the Desk of Donald J Trump’ ahead of the Facebook ruling.

Greg Evans takes a look at 15 of the most bizarre things the former president has already posted on it:

The night before the expected ruling on his Facebook profile, Donald Trump was in “great spirits” at a dinner with Ted Cruz, according to the US senator.

“We spent the evening talking about working together to re-take the House & Senate in 2022,” Mr Cruz said.

Facebook created the oversight panel to rule on thorny content on its platforms following widespread criticism of its difficulty responding swiftly and effectively to misinformation, hate speech and nefarious influence campaigns.

Its decisions so far — all nine of them — have tended to favor free expression over the restriction of content.In its first rulings, the panel overturned four out of five decisions by the social network to take down questionable material.

It ordered Facebook to restore posts by users that the company said broke standards on adult nudity, hate speech, or dangerous individuals.

Critics of Facebook, however, worry that the Oversight Board is a mere distraction from the company’s deeper problems — ones that can’t be addressed in a handful of high-profile cases by a semi-independent body of experts.

Here is more on its first rulings, which took place in January:

Associated Press

While awaiting to hear what will happen to Donald Trump’s Facebook ban, here’s a reminder of how the process works and what might happen after today’s announcement: