CNN anchor Alisyn Camerota asked Tuesday on “Newsroom” why Facebook would let former President Donald Trump back on their site “to peddle more of the crap?”
Facebook’s Oversight Board will announce on Wednesday its ruling on whether Trump’s suspension on the platform should be permanent.
Discussing the news with media reporter Brian Stelter, Camerota asked, “Brian, President Trump’s lies led to a bloody, deadly insurrection. Why would they ever let him back on to peddle more of the crap?”
Stelter said, “There are a lot of members of this board that are free speech advocates, First Amendment absolutists in some cases, that are going to make an argument that these platforms should not be in the position of making these choices at all. If Trump is brought back on Facebook, it will likely be for those reasons.”
He continued, “But a lot of this has to do with the memory hole. The riot going down memory hole. That’s what Fox and right-wing media has been trying to do. And I worry that this may be another result of that.”
Co-host Victor Blackwell said, “I went back and read the statement from the board back on January 21 when they decided to make that suspension indefinite. They said that the reason was the president was actively fomenting a violent insurrection to thwart the peaceful transfer of power. Yesterday he tweeted out the new big lie the current president, the duly elected president, was, indeed, elected with enough legitimate votes. What has changed that would lead them to any real substantial difference in their position? Brian, to you.”
Stelter said, “I think it’s they have this board, a group of outsiders, and will say, it’s not our call, it’s not Mark Zuckerberg making the decision. Whatever they do with Trump will set a precedent for other world leaders and former world leaders, and potential future world leaders. There’s an immense amount of pressure on this board.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
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