Donald Trump’s Facebook account remains blocked. That is the decision of an independent supervisory body. But the former US president doesn’t seem to care. He, in turn, is reacting by releasing his own blog.
Donald Trump must continue to do without Facebook. As the independent oversight body Oversight Board announced, the account of the former US president remains blocked until further notice. But the board has also called on Facebook to re-examine and re-evaluate the situation within six months.
About four months ago, Facebook temporarily suspended Donald Trump’s account. The platform cited as a reason that Trump had incited violence, which in turn led to his supporters storming the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Supervisory board confirms account suspension
The supervisory board has now confirmed Facebook’s decision. Although the former US president’s account is still visible, Trump is still unable to publish any posts. The same applies to the Facebook subsidiary Instagram.
However, a block for an indefinite period was inappropriate. Thus, the panel obliged Facebook to re-examine the case in the next six months and find a proportionate response.
In theory, Facebook would also have had to accept a lifting of the block or a decision in favor of Trump. According to the company, the decisions of the Oversight Board, which includes legal experts and journalists, are binding.
The short message service Twitter, on the other hand, has decided to permanently block Donald Trump’s account. Unlike Facebook, there is no way back onto the platform, which was long considered a popular mouthpiece for the former US president.
Donald Trump publishes own blog
While Twitter’s decision may have hit Trump hard, he seems relatively indifferent to the Facebook ruling.
For example, Trump unveiled his own platform just one day after the decision. Contrary to his months-long announcements, however, it is less of a social network and more of a blog.
At least visually, however, it is reminiscent of Trump’s former favorite network, Twitter. The former US president has integrated his platform “From the Desk of Donald J. Trump” directly on his website.
Similar to other social networks, Trump’s blog lists his posts chronologically. Users can, in turn, like and share them via Facebook or Twitter.
A Twitter spokesperson recently stated that it is generally permitted to share content from other websites as long as the guidelines are adhered to.
However, he also pointed out that it is not permissible to undermine a block. For example, it is not permitted to imitate a blocked account. Corresponding violations would be punished.
