Trump Facebook ban: White House says social media has responsibility to block misinformation

Companies obligated to prevent spread of ‘damaging, sometimes life-threatening’ content, Jen Psaki says

Following Facebook’s Oversight Board decision to uphold a suspension of Donald Trump’s accounts on its platforms, the White House says that social media companies have “a responsibility to the health and safety of all Americans” to combat the spread of mis- and disinformation on their networks.

“The president’s view is that the major platforms have a responsibility related to the health and safety of all Americans to stop amplifying untrustworthy content, misinformation, disinformation – especially related to Covid-19, vaccines and elections,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on Wednesday.

She said that President Joe Biden’s view is that “there is more to be done to ensure that this type of misinformation, disinformation, damaging, sometimes life-threatening information is not going out to the American public”.

The White House declined to comment on Facebook’s decision, adding that it is an “independent board’s decision and we’re not going to have any comment on the future of the former president’s social media platform,” Ms Psaki said.

Wednesday’s binding ruling from the Oversight Board – four months from the Capitol riot fuelled by then-President Trump’s “stolen election” lies that prompted Facebook to indefinitely suspend his accounts – upholds the company’s decision.

The committee instructed the company to review how the ban was determined, and that the company’s policies do not permit the kind of suspension facing Mr Trump. The former president should know why and for how long he has been banned, the committee reported.

Mr Trump “created an environment where a serious risk of violence was possible” with his “unfounded narrative of electoral fraud and persistent calls to action” leading up to the insurrection on 6 January, with an audience of 35 million followers on Facebook and 24 million on Instagram.

The former president called the decision a “total disgrace and an embarrassment to our country”.