Sen. Elizabeth Warren blasted Facebook as having too much power and “acting like they’re bigger than government” after the company decided to uphold its suspension of former President Donald Trump Wednesday.
“I’m glad that he’s not on Facebook,” the Massachusetts Democrat told Cheddar News. “I think that he poses a real danger. But I don’t think that Facebook ought to have this kind of power. We need to break up these giant tech companies, and Facebook is one of them.
“They are crushing competition,” she continued. “And in cases like Facebook, they’re acting like they’re bigger than government. The group that made this decision calls itself ‘the Supreme Court’ — they are not the Supreme Court, they’re part of a private company. They need to be broken up, we need a chance for competition to flourish here, and we need a chance to have some power that balances out what these giants are up to.”
Facebook’s self-created “supreme court” said Wednesday the company was right to ban Mr. Trump over his posts during the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, but that it should not have been made indefinite. The oversight board punted the longer-term decision back to Facebook, saying it must “reexamine the arbitrary penalty” and “decide the appropriate penalty” within the next six months. Mr. Trump will remain banned at least until then.
“In applying a vague, standardless penalty and then referring this case to the Board to resolve, Facebook seeks to avoid its responsibilities,” wrote the board, an independent committee of 20 outside experts, CNBC reported. “The Board declines Facebook’s request and insists that Facebook apply and justify a defined penalty.”
Ms. Warren, who wants to regulate tech platforms as utilities, tweeted after the decision: “Facebook is a disinformation-for-profit machine that won’t accept responsibility for its role in the safety of our democracy and people. Trump should be banned for good, but Facebook will continue to fumble with its power until Congress and antitrust regulators rein in Big Tech.”
“I’m glad he’s not on Facebook, I think he poses a real danger. But, Facebook shouldn’t have this type of power. They’re acting like they’re bigger than government.”
Sen. @ewarren discusses Facebook’s oversight board upholding the social network’s ban of former President Trump. pic.twitter.com/S2lcbbawhe
— Cheddar News 🧀 (@cheddar) May 5, 2021
