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The Facebook Files
Confirmed

Trump's Facebook Ban, the Oversight Board, and the 2023 Return

The day after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, Zuckerberg announced that Facebook was blocking President Trump's accounts for at least two weeks, and the suspension became indefinite. The Oversight Board upheld it in May 2021 but rejected the open-ended penalty, Facebook set a two-year term, and Meta reinstated Trump in January 2023.

Jan 7, 2021
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Whose side it served: Democrats

Removed the Republican president and 2024 frontrunner from the largest social platform for two years.

What the record shows

On Jan. 7, 2021, Zuckerberg wrote that 'the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great.' On May 5, 2021, the Oversight Board upheld the suspension but said the indefinite length 'was not appropriate.' It said Facebook 'seeks to avoid its responsibilities' and gave it six months to decide a proportionate penalty. Facebook then set a two-year suspension running from Jan. 7, 2021. On Jan. 25, 2023, Nick Clegg announced the suspension would end, calling it 'an extraordinary decision taken in extraordinary circumstances,' with new penalties of one month to two years for future violations. In July 2024 Meta said Trump, as the GOP nominee, would no longer face those heightened penalties.

In their words

“the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service”— Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO · source
“an extraordinary decision taken in extraordinary circumstances”— Nick Clegg, Meta President of Global Affairs · source
The other side

Meta and the Oversight Board pointed to Trump's posts praising rioters during ongoing violence as an exceptional public-safety risk. Critics, including some on the left, argued the reinstatement came too soon, while others said removing a sitting president set a troubling precedent.

Sources

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