Facebook will no longer give special treatment to moderating content posted by politicians. This was reported by the tech site The Verge, the New York Times and the Washington Post. Previously, the contents posted by personalities from the political world were in fact exempt from the general rules of moderation, even if they contained hate speech. A controversial rule, and justified by Mark Zuckerberg’s company for the journalistic value and the public interest of content from prominent public figures, beyond their nature.
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. Since then, Trump’s account has been suspended “indefinitely”. 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. However, Zuckerberg argued that it is not the job of social media to control the speeches of politicians.
Facebook’s policy on the exemption from moderation of content posted by top politicians dates back to 2016, but it only attracted public attention in 2019 when Nick Clegg, in a post, argued for 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 world‘s largest social network.