Politicians will no longer receive preferential treatment on Facebook. The social network intends to end its policy by protecting them from some content moderation rules. The change comes after former US President Donald Trump’s account was suspended.
The changes come after Facebook faced criticism from journalists, lawmakers and its own employees for allowing world leaders and politicians to use the platform to spread misinformation and harass their opponents.
According to The Verge, the social media giant could announce the change on Friday, following warnings from its supervisory board. “The same rules must apply to all users,” said independent members of the new court, which was asked whether or not Facebook was right when it suspended the account of former US President Donald Trump.
The former White House leader is accused of encouraging his supporters during the assault on the Capitol in early January, violating the platform’s ban on apologizing for violence.
This ‘supreme court’ acknowledged the urgency of the intervention at the time, but passed the final decision to the company, whether or not to allow Trump to return to the platform. She called on the social network to clarify its “arbitrary” rules. By January, Facebook was more tolerant of the Republican billionaire.
Mark Zuckerberg, the head of Facebook, has been refusing for many years to play the role of “online truth arbiter.” But this position became difficult to respect with Donald Trump, who minimized the severity of the pandemic or denounced, without evidence, so-called electoral fraud. And such statements only put gas on fire in a country that was already very divided, comments AFP, quoted by Agerpres.
The assault on Congress, which left several dead, was a turning point. But Facebook has not returned to the list of political figures exempt from some of its rules and sanctions, especially on misinformation, in the name of the ‘public interest’ to form its own opinion. This preferential treatment arouses much criticism, including within the company.
Facebook’s reluctance to delete some of Donald Trump’s messages a year ago, believed to be in favor of police violence during protests against systemic racism, has been publicly disavowed by some employees.
Accused of serving as spokespersons for the former president, Facebook and other networks, such as Twitter, have tightened their post moderation system, increasing the number of warnings attached to problematic messages.
These initiatives, however, have not stopped Democrats from blaming them for their inefficiency in stopping misinformation, while Republicans accuse them of censorship.
According to The Verge, Facebook could also show greater transparency on warnings in case of rule violations, which could lead to the deletion of recidivist accounts.
