Facebook Must Make Trump Suspension Permanent

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
Contact: Charmaine Riley, [email protected]

WASHINGTON – Wade Henderson, interim president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement regarding the Facebook Oversight Board’s decision to continue, for now, Donald Trump’s suspension from the platform. 

“The Board’s decision to uphold Donald Trump’s suspension is a step in the right direction toward countering misinformation and stopping violence. The suspension must be made permanent to stop the spread of Trump’s continued lies and prevent any further incitement to violence.”

“The violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol did not happen in a vacuum. It was paired with numerous impediments that voters faced during the 2020 election cycle amid a pandemic and exacerbated by the former president’s relentless efforts to undermine the freedom to vote, create deliberate barriers to the ballot box, and discount the votes of communities of color. We urge Facebook to learn from these mistakes and prevent the spread of harmful disinformation on its platform that leads to violence.”

BACKGROUND:

Earlier this year, The Leadership Conference wrote to the Facebook Oversight Board calling for Trump’s permanent suspension from the platform. Additionally, the organization wrote to Congress urging companies to find solutions that will keep our democracy safe and stop the suppressive effect that disinformation is having on civil rights and racial justice. The organization has also called for Facebook to do everything it can, including improving its Community Standards and enforcing its policies on election integrity, to meaningfully address and counter disinformation, online voter suppression, and hate speech on its platforms. While Facebook has made some policy changes, its lack of consistent enforcement makes these policies insufficient to prevent the spread of disinformation and deliberate barriers to voting, particularly toward historically marginalized communities. 

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 220 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.

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