Mark Zuckerberg can no longer deflect blame for Trump’s Facebook suspension

Mark Zuckerberg can no longer deflect blame for Trump’s Facebook suspension

Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg arrives to testify following a break during a Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee and Senate Judiciary Committee joint hearing about Facebook on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.

Facebook's self-created "supreme court" refused to do the company's dirty work when it handed down a decision on the platform's indefinite ban of former President Donald Trump.

Facebook was right to ban Trump after his posts expressing support for rioters at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, Facebook's oversight board said in its decision Wednesday. But, the board said, Facebook should not have made the ban indefinite, adding that it's up to the company to decide the appropriate time frame for suspension — whether that's a few weeks more or forever.

"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. "The Board declines Facebook's request and insists that Facebook apply and justify a defined penalty."

The oversight board was created to adjudicate on some of the trickiest problems Facebook faces in operating a platform for a community larger than most nations. It's funded by a trust created