The Verge: Facebook has no reason to ever resolve the Trump ban

After months of waiting, today Facebook’s Oversight Board finally handed down the biggest ruling of its short existence — the question of whether to uphold the ban on Donald Trump. The verdict? Send the question back to Facebook, and give them six more months to decide.

In fairness, it wasn’t quite that bad. The initial ban was upheld, and the board made specific rulings on the questions of whether Trump’s posts were inciting violence, and whether world leaders should get special treatment. For now, Facebook can continue to block Trump, which means that on the face of it, this is a win for anti-Trumpers. Unless you’re visiting his self-hosted website, you’ll remain blessedly safe from Trump posts.

But the ruling also went out of its way to avoid settling the long-term question of whether Facebook is allowed to permanently ban leaders like Trump. The board found the initial ban was justified since Trump’s January 6th posts really did incite violence — but it wasn’t enough to justify a permanent ban. So even as the board affirmed the initial ban, it called on Facebook to set a new policy for how and when Trump could regain Facebook access. …

And of course, because none of the Oversight decisions are binding on Facebook, the company is free to delay past any of those deadlines if it wants more time. In a statement after the decision, the progressive group Common Cause described it as “an endless cycle of uncertainty,” and it’s hard to disagree. The process could easily stretch through the 2024 election, and given the political interests involved, it’s not clear how it could ever fully resolve.