Facebook’s Oversight Board on Wednesday essentially punted the decision back to the company on whether to eventually allow former President Donald Trump back on Facebook and Instagram. What the social media giant decides in the coming months will likely have major consequences for Trump’s political power.
“It could be a make-or-break moment for Trump’s political future,” said Eric Wilson, a Republican political technologist.
That’s because being on Facebook is crucial for modern-day political campaigns, as a majority of Americans use the platform and those who do log into it multiple times daily. Facebook has become crucial for raising money and for targeting supporters and swing voters, something the Trump campaign did in unprecedented ways. The majority of online ad dollars go to either Facebook or Google.
“Even with all the resources Donald Trump has,” Wilson said, “Facebook is so much bigger than that, that you can’t get around it.”
In a statement responding to the Oversight Board’s non-decision decision, Trump, who remains banned on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, called the stances of the social media giants a “total disgrace and an embarrassment to our Country.” He also promised a degree of retribution, threatening that they “must pay a political price.”
Trump’s frustration is with good reason. Since the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, his ability to communicate directly with the public has been limited. On Tuesday, Trump added a blog-like feature — with no comments section — to his post-presidency website. He is still promising to launch his own social media platform.
The board’s decision also comes as Trump’s popularity seems to have softened further since leaving office. A NBC News poll released last week found that just a third of Americans had a favorable opinion of him, which was down several points from January. The survey also showed, for the first time, 50% of Republicans said they considered themselves more supporters of the GOP than Trump.