Ben Shapiro spots selective rule enforcement after Facebook board's explanation for upholding Trump suspension

Doug P. | 11:01 AM on May 05, 2021

A Facebook Oversight Board announced its decision on the possible reinstatement of former President Donald Trump to social media platforms they own. Basically the decision is to uphold Trump’s suspension and to revisit the issue in six months:

NEW: @OversightBoard upholds Facebook's decision to suspend the former president, but leaves the door open…https://t.co/OQf15kqxLr pic.twitter.com/2rikYfuSnf

— Matt Largey (@mattlargey) May 5, 2021

Here's the important part. So, yes. I guess we're doing this all over in six months. Ball is back in Facebook, the company's, court. https://t.co/gl7ATDk2Ir pic.twitter.com/ZVcTXMMAS2

— Makena Kelly (@kellymakena) May 5, 2021

Here are the two main takeaways:

The Board has upheld Facebook’s decision on January 7 to suspend then-President Trump from Facebook and Instagram. Trump’s posts during the Capitol riot severely violated Facebook’s rules and encouraged and legitimized violence. https://t.co/veRvWpeyCi

— Oversight Board (@OversightBoard) May 5, 2021

The Board also found Facebook violated its own rules by imposing a suspension that was ‘indefinite.’ This penalty is not described in Facebook’s content policies. It has no clear criteria and gives Facebook total discretion on when to impose or lift it.

— Oversight Board (@OversightBoard) May 5, 2021

After what we’ve seen the last 14 months or so, Ben Shapiro spots some seriously selective rule enforcement from social media companies:

Facebook's Oversight Board says they were right to suspend Trump because he violated their rule "prohibiting praise or support of people engaged in violence." Last year, nearly the entire media and Democratic Party praised people engaged in the most costly riots in US history.

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) May 5, 2021