Facebook no more special treatment for politicians

Facebook intends to end its practice of exempting politicians from content moderation rules, a special treatment that has raised quite a few controversies. The news, reported by The Verge website, was picked up by various US media.

The expected breakthrough could happen when Mark Zuckerberg’s company is expected to announce its response to the (non-binding) recommendations made by the supervisory board when it confirmed Donald Trump’s suspension from the platform. On the same day that the supervisory board of the most popular social network in the world confirmed the suspension of Donald Trump’s account for the next two years, until January 2023, in fact, Mark Zuckerberg’s platform also announced the end of all favorable treatment for policy makers. From now on, the same rules will apply for all users and no automatic pass will be allowed for politicians who do not abide by the rules of moderation of social media and who incite hatred.

The decision comes following the suspension of the account of former US president Donald Trump on January 6, 2021, who again via social media had expressed support for the demonstrators who had invaded Capitol Hill on the same day. The internal surveillance body of the platform also suggested an equal treatment for all users, which also asked for further clarity on the guidelines of the platform in establishing the relevance of a content or in the criteria for exclusion from the website. particularly influential personalities.

Facebook’s policy on the exemption from moderation of content posted by the most important politicians dates back to 2016, but it attracted the attention of the public only in 2019 when Nick Clegg, in a post, argued the intrinsic value of that content. “If a politician says something in violation of community standards, we will allow it to stay if we find that the public interest outweighs the harmful potential.” But after the uprising on Capitol Hill, the platform justified Trump’s ban with the “risk of inciting violence.” Facebook has currently not released any statements regarding what could be one of the most delicate turning points for the largest social network in the world.