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Politico | Facebook’s US political nightmare deepens

  • The ruling that’s keeping Donald Trump off Facebook is spawning new threats from Republicans
  • Facebook and CEO Mark Zuckerberg face as much as six more months of public wrangling over controversy

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The Facebook independent oversight board’s decision fanned allegations that the tech industry is biased against conservatives. Photo: Reuters
POLITICO

This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Cristiano Lima on politico.com on May 5, 2021.

Facebook may have hoped that life in Washington would get easier after its appointed oversight board ruled on former US president Donald Trump’s fate on the social network.

Instead, it is facing a whole new round of censure, especially from the right – months after the company suspended Trump over his remarks during the deadly January 6 attack on the Capitol, triggering calls from conservative lawmakers to break up, rein in or otherwise restrain the world’s biggest social media network.

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And that means Facebook’s political threats from Republicans may be poised to get a lot worse, at a time when the pro-Trump wing of the party is feeling especially emboldened. Wednesday’s board decision arrived just as the former president’s supporters were poised to oust an anti-Trump apostate from their House leadership, with Trump’s vocal endorsement, and days after a squeeze on Democratic seats gave Republicans new reason to feel optimistic about their chances of reclaiming Congress next year.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy issued a warning in response to the ruling on Wednesday: “A House Republican majority will rein in big tech power over our speech.”
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Now Facebook and CEO Mark Zuckerberg face as much as six more months of public wrangling over a Trump controversy they had hoped to put behind them.

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