Facebook Oversight Board Member Criticizes Platform: Rules Are in ‘Shambles’
Facebook Oversight Board Co-Chair Michael McConnell is taking a swipe at Facebook, saying the platform’s rules are in “shambles.”
Appearing on “Fox News Sunday,” McConnell discussed the recent decision made by the board to uphold Facebook’s ban of former President Donald Trump’s account.
“We gave them a certain amount of time to get their house in order. They needed some time because their rules are [in] shambles. They are not transparent. They are unclear,” McConnell said.
He added, “They are internally inconsistent. So we made a series of recommendations about how to make their rules clearer and more consistent and the hope is that they will use the next few months to do that and then when they come back and look at this they’ll be able to apply those rules in a straightforward way.”
Watch part of McConnell’s interview below:
"Their rules are a shambles" — Facebook Oversight Board Co-Chair Michael McConnell on Facebook's rules and how they apply to Donald Trump's suspension from the platform pic.twitter.com/fXZM9L4RTx
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 9, 2021
In a statement last week, the oversight board announced, “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.”
It continued, “Within 6 months of today, Facebook must review this matter and decide a new penalty that reflects its rules, the severity of the violation, and prospect of future harm. Facebook can either impose a time-limited suspension or account deletion.”
McConnell reiterated Trump is responsible for issuing “inflammatory posts at the very time when rioters were invading the Congress and shutting down the constitutionally prescribed process for counting electoral votes.”
He added, “[Trump] issued those posts. He is responsible for doing that. He bears responsibility for his own situation. He put himself in this bed and he can sleep in it.”
McConnell acknowledged, “Mr. Trump is subject to the same rules on Facebook as everyone else, and the Oversight Board held that this was in fact a violation and thus Facebook was justified in taking them down.”
Still, McConnell said Facebook was “not justified in taking him down indefinitely, that they did not provide any reasons for that, that is not a provision in their rules. That was wrong.”
He claimed the platform “exercises too much power.”
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