{"id":475446,"date":"2021-05-05T18:20:41","date_gmt":"2021-05-05T22:20:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=475446"},"modified":"2021-05-05T18:20:43","modified_gmt":"2021-05-05T22:20:43","slug":"facebooks-oversight-board-are-feckless-bureaucrats-doing-nothing-but-wasting-time-as-our-freedom-of-speech-is-taken-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/facebooks-oversight-board-are-feckless-bureaucrats-doing-nothing-but-wasting-time-as-our-freedom-of-speech-is-taken-away\/","title":{"rendered":"Facebook\u2019s \u2018Oversight Board\u2019 Are Feckless Bureaucrats, Doing Nothing But Wasting Time As Our Freedom Of Speech Is Taken Away"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">38<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffacebooks-oversight-board-are-feckless-bureaucrats-doing-nothing-but-wasting-time-as-our-freedom-of-speech-is-taken-away%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=475446&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/GettyImages-1212054758-1200x800-1.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"  style=\"display:none\"><\/div>\n<p><span>On Wednesday, Facebook\u2019s \u201cOversight Board\u201d announced that \u2014 unsurprisingly \u2014 they were upholding the Big Tech giant\u2019s deeply controversial decision to suspend former President Donald Trump\u2019s accounts on both Facebook and Instagram.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cThe Board has upheld Facebook\u2019s decision on January 7, 2021, to restrict then-President Donald Trump\u2019s access to posting content on his Facebook page and Instagram account,\u201d a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/oversightboard.com\/news\/226612455899839-oversight-board-upholds-former-president-trump-s-suspension-finds-facebook-failed-to-impose-proper-penalty\/\"><span>statement<\/span><\/a><span> read.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Facebook\u2019s Oversight Board \u201cfound that the two posts by Mr. Trump on January 6 severely violated Facebook\u2019s Community Standards and Instagram\u2019s Community Guidelines,\u201d claiming that phrases like \u201cWe love you. You\u2019re very special,\u201d \u201cgreat patriots,\u201d and \u201cremember this day forever\u201d had \u201cviolated Facebook\u2019s rules prohibiting praise or support of people engaged in violence.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>This conclusion was almost identical to Twitter\u2019s \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/twitter-claimed-that-trump-violated-their-policies-the-evidence-says-otherwise\"><span>comprehensive analysis<\/span><\/a><span>\u201d of similar tweets from Trump, when Twitter argued that that two particular statements by the former president \u201cmust be read in the context of broader events in the country and the ways in which the President\u2019s statements can be mobilized by different audiences,\u201d and that these tweets were in \u201cviolation of the Glorification of Violence Policy.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>While this decision itself was entirely expected, we should also note the hypocrisy which drives the very notion of Facebook\u2019s Oversight Board.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In the Oversight Board\u2019s statement, the Board criticized Facebook for avoiding \u201cits responsibilities:\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote readability=\"30\">\n<p><i><span>However, it was not appropriate for Facebook to impose an \u2018indefinite\u2019 suspension.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span>It is not permissible for Facebook to keep a user off the platform for an undefined period, with no criteria for when or whether the account will be restored.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span>In applying this penalty, Facebook did not follow a clear, published procedure. \u2018Indefinite\u2019 suspensions are not described in the company\u2019s content policies. Facebook\u2019s normal penalties include removing the violating content, imposing a time-bound period of suspension, or permanently disabling the page and account.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span>It is Facebook\u2019s role to create necessary and proportionate penalties that respond to severe violations of its content policies. The Board\u2019s role is to ensure that Facebook\u2019s rules and processes are consistent with its content policies, its values and its human rights commitments.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span>In applying a vague, standardless penalty and then referring this case to the Board to resolve, Facebook seeks to avoid its responsibilities. The Board declines Facebook\u2019s request and insists that Facebook apply and justify a defined penalty.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>The Oversight Board is half-right, in that Facebook is indeed attempting to avoid responsibility. That\u2019s why they hide behind the \u201cindependence\u201d of fact-checkers, and why they hide behind the \u201cindependence\u201d of their own Oversight Board.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>However, the Oversight Board is also guilty of avoiding the very same responsibility. According to <a href=\"https:\/\/oversightboard.com\/\">Facebook<\/a>, \u201cThe purpose of the board is to promote free expression by making principled, independent decisions regarding content on Facebook and Instagram and by issuing recommendations on the relevant Facebook company content policy,\u201d and is responsible for reviewing \u201ca select number of highly emblematic cases and determine if decisions were made in accordance with Facebook\u2019s stated values and policies.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In very simple terms, the Oversight Board avoided responsibility by trying to rule for and against Donald Trump, and for and against Facebook, at the same time. They upheld Trump\u2019s ban \u2014 ruling \u201cfor\u201d Facebook and \u201cagainst Trump\u201d \u2014 while criticizing Facebook for effectively having no justification for the scale of their unprecedented ban \u2014 ruling \u201cagainst\u201d Facebook and \u201cfor\u201d Trump.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>And what changed? Nothing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>All we witnessed is the culmination of bloviated and meaningless bureaucracy, while our freedom of speech continues to be attacked.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>One can only ask whether this was the plan all along?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i>Ian Haworth is an Editor and Writer for The Daily Wire.\u00a0<\/i><i>Follow him on Twitter at\u00a0<\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ighaworth\"><i>@ighaworth<\/i><\/a><i>.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author\u2019s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a<\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\">\u00a0<i>member<\/i><\/a><i>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Wednesday, Facebook\u2019s \u201cOversight Board\u201d announced that \u2014 unsurprisingly \u2014 they were upholding the Big Tech giant\u2019s deeply controversial decision to suspend former President Donald Trump\u2019s accounts on both Facebook &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2277413,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/GettyImages-1212054758-1200x800-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"Facebook\u2019s \u2018Oversight Board\u2019 Are Feckless Bureaucrats, Doing Nothing But Wasting Time As Our Freedom Of Speech Is Taken Away","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-475446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/GettyImages-1212054758-1200x800-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"Facebook\u2019s \u2018Oversight Board\u2019 Are Feckless Bureaucrats, Doing Nothing But Wasting Time As Our Freedom Of Speech Is Taken Away","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=475446"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475446\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2277413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=475446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=475446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=475446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}