event

A Conversation with the Oversight Board – Facebook’s Trump Ban and the Future of Online Speech

Thu. February 11th, 2021
Live Online

Last year, Facebook set up the Oversight Board as an independent body to review its content moderation decisions and make binding judgments about its policies. Described by Mark Zuckerberg as Facebook’s “Supreme Court,” the Board has rendered its first set of decisions and is now poised to consider one of the most significant questions in the world: should Donald Trump’s Facebook account remain suspended due to incitements leading to the January 6th storming of the U.S. Capitol, or should Trump be allowed back on the platform to reconnect with his millions of followers?
 
Join us for a conversation with Helle Thorning-Schmidt, Oversight Board Co-Chair and former Prime Minister of Denmark; Dex Hunter-Torricke, Oversight Board Head of Communications; David Kaye, former United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression; and Steve Feldstein, Carnegie Endowment senior fellow for Democracy, Conflict, and Governance to unpack the Oversight Board’s first set of rulings and to consider future implications for free expression, public safety, and online moderation.

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
event speakers

Steven Feldstein

Senior Fellow, Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program

Steven Feldstein is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in the Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program. His research focuses on technology and geopolitics, U.S. foreign policy, and the global context for democracy.

David Kaye

David Kaye is a clinical professor of law at the University of California, Irvine. From 2014 – 2020 he served as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression.

Helle Thorning-Schmidt

Helle Thorning-Schmidt is a co-chair for the Oversight Board. She is the former Prime Minister of Denmark, a position she held from 2011 to 2015. She also served as leader of the opposition and party leader in the Danish Parliament and as a member of European Parliament.

Dex Hunter-Torricke

Dex Hunter-Torricke is head of communications for the Oversight Board. During his career, Dex has served as head of communications for SpaceX, head of executive communications for Facebook, and as Google’s first executive speechwriter.