FACEBOOK OVERSIGHT BOARD’S DECISION ON THE INDEFINITE SUSPENSION OF DONALD TRUMP’S ACCOUNT

  • Ivana Vukčević Pravni fakultet Univerziteta Union
Ključne reči: Facebook, Oversight Board, Donald Trump, freedom of expression, social media, content moderation, indefinite suspension, political leaders, high-profile accounts, international human rights law

Sažetak


On May 5, 2021 Facebook Oversight Board, a global body created by the company to act as an independent appeals mechanism for Facebook’s content moderation, issued its highly awaited decision concerning the “indefinite suspension” of former US President Donald Trump’s account. The suspension was originally imposed by Facebook between January 6 and 7, 2021 for Trump’s posts related to the attacks on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. This case note shows the Oversight Board’s almost exclusive reliance on international human rights standards in deciding the case. It sees it as a positive development. Additionally, the author argues that the decision also highlights Facebook’s struggle and potential lack of willingness to develop a unified approach to its treatment of political leaders and the company’s reluctance to grapple with the way its business model has potentially contributed to violent events, including the attacks on the Capitol Hill on January 6, 2021.

Reference

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Benesch, S., 2020, But Facebook’s Not a Country: How to Interpret Human Rights Law for Social Media Companies, Yale Journal on Regulation Online Bulletin.

Karanicolas, M., 2020, Squaring the Circle Between Freedom of Expression and Platform Law, Journal of Technology Law & Policy, Vol. 20.

Lwin, M., 2020, Applying International Human Rights Law for Use by Facebook, Yale Journal on Regulation Online Bulletin.

Schabas, W. A., 2019, Nowak's CCPR Commentary: U.N. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 3rd rev. ed., Kehl, N. P. Engel Publisher.

DOCUMENTS

Facebook, Deed of Amendment of the Oversight Board Trust Agreement, 2020.

Facebook, Limited Liability Company Agreement of Oversight Board LLC, 2019.

Facebook, Oversight Board Bylaws, 2020.

Facebook, Oversight Board Charter, 2019.

Facebook, Oversight Board Trust Agreement, 2019.

Human Rights Committee, General Comment No. 34, UN doc. CCPR/C/GC/34 (12 September 2011).

Human Rights Council, Rabat Plan of Action on the prohibition of advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence, UN doc. A/HRC/22/17/Add.4 (11 January 2013).

Human Rights Council, Report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, UN doc. A/HRC/38/35 (6 April 2018).

International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, adopted 21 December 1965, entered into force 4 January 1969, 660 UNTS 195.

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, adopted 16 December 1966, entered into force 23 March 1976, 999 UNTS 171.

UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: Implementing the United Nations “Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework, UN doc. HR/PUB/11/4 (2011).

CASE LAW

ECtHR, Gunduz v. Turkey, no. 35071/97, Judgment of 4 December 2003.

Facebook Oversight Board, Case Decision 2021-001-FB-FBR, 5 May 2021.

Facebook Oversight Board, Case Decision 2021-003-FB-UA, 29 April 2021.

Facebook Oversight Board, Case Decision 2021-005-FB-UA, 28 January 2021.

IACtHR, Perozo et al. v. Venezuela, Judgment of 28 January 2009.

INTERNET SOURCES

Domino, J., 2021, Beyond the Coup in Myanmar: The Other De-Platforming We Should Have Been Talking About (https://www.justsecurity.org/76047/beyond-the-coup-in-myanmar-the-other-de-platforming-we-should-have-been-talking-about/, 27. 5. 2021).

Facebook Community Standards (https://www.facebook.com/communitystandards/, 30. 5. 2021).

Facebook’s Corporate Human Rights Policy (https://about.fb.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Facebooks-Corporate-Human-Rights-Policy.pdf, 27. 5. 2021).

Facebook’s response Oversight Boards recommendations (https://about.fb.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/OB_First-Decision_Detailed_.pdf, 27. 5. 2021).

Ghaffary, S., 2020, Facebook’s independent oversight board is finally up and running, Vox Recode, (https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/10/22/21528859/facebook-oversight-board-mark-zuckerberg, 30. 5. 2021).

Graham, T., 2021, The Facebook Oversight Board’s Trump Ban Decision Is About More Than Trump (https://www.justsecurity.org/75990/the-facebook-oversight-boards-trump-ban-decision-is-about-more-than-trump/, 26. 5. 2021).

Harris, B., 2019, An Update on Building a Global Oversight Board, Facebook Newsroom, (https://about.fb.com/news/2019/12/oversight-board-update/, 30. 5. 2021).

Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement on his Facebook account (https://www.facebook.com/zuck/posts/10112681480907401, 27. 5. 2021).

Milanovic, M., 2021, The Facebook Oversight Board Made the Right Call on the Trump Suspension (https://www.ejiltalk.org/the-facebook-oversight-board-made-the-right-call-on-the-trump-suspension/, 25. 5. 2021).

Oversight Board website (https://oversightboard.com/appeals-process/, 30. 5. 2021).

Oversight Board website, update on the appeals procedure (https://oversightboard.com/news/267806285017646-the-oversight-board-is-accepting-user-appeals-to-remove-content-from-facebook-and-instagram/, 30. 5. 2021).

Tan, S., Shin, Y., Rindler, D., 2021, How one of America’s ugliest days unravelled inside and outside the Capitol, Washington Post, (https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/interactive/2021/capitol-insurrection-visual-timeline/, 27. 5. 2021).

BBC, 2021, Facebook freezes Maduro’s page over Covid claim (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-56551350, 27. 5. 2021).

Objavljeno
2021/07/16
Broj časopisa
Rubrika
Komentar