The Facebook Oversight Board is commonly described as a “Supreme Court” for Facebook. On Wednesday, it acted prefer it—issuing a finely grained ruling that punts the toughest query posed to it again down for Mark Zuckerberg to cope with.

The difficulty earlier than the board, in case you haven’t turned on the information or checked Twitter this week, was whether or not to uphold Facebook’s indefinite ban of Donald Trump’s account following his position in inciting the January 6 riot on the Capitol. It was, by far, probably the most hotly anticipated determination within the Oversight Board’s younger existence. Since the corporate referred the case to the board on January 21, it acquired over 9,000 public feedback on the matter. As of Wednesday, the Trump ban stays in place—however the determination nonetheless is not remaining.

Specifically, Facebook requested the Oversight Board to resolve:

Considering Facebook’s values, particularly its dedication to voice and security, did it appropriately resolve on January 7, 2021, to ban Donald J. Trump’s entry to posting content material on Facebook and Instagram for an indefinite period of time?

The board’s reply was sure—and no. Yes, Facebook was proper to droop Trump’s account; no, it was incorrect to take action indefinitely. “In applying a vague, standardless penalty and then referring this case to the Board to resolve, Facebook seeks to avoid its responsibilities,” the board wrote in its decision. “The Board declines Facebook’s request and insists that Facebook apply and justify a defined penalty.” In different phrases, Facebook should resolve whether or not to let Trump again instantly, place a transparent finish date on his suspension, or kick him off its platforms eternally.

While the board took Facebook to activity for refusing to take a clearer stand, it additionally endorsed the rapid logic of the takedown. The original decision to deactivate Trump’s account was made underneath extraordinary circumstances. With the violent assault on the US Capitol nonetheless raging, Trump made a collection of posts, together with a video, during which he informed his followers to go dwelling—however during which he additionally repeated the false declare that the election had been stolen, the very concept motivating his rioting supporters. “This was a fraudulent election, but we can’t play into the hands of these people,” he mentioned within the video. “We have to have peace. So go home. We love you. You’re very special.” By the following day, Facebook had taken the posts down and suspended Trump solely from its platform, in addition to Instagram and WhatsApp. (Twitter and YouTube did likewise.)

It was clear all alongside that the content material of the offending posts was removed from Trump’s most egregious—in any case, he was no less than telling the rioters to go dwelling—and didn’t clearly violate any clear rule. Trump had been utilizing Facebook to broadcast the stolen-election fable for months, in any case. What had modified was not Trump’s on-line habits, then, however the offline penalties of it. In a blog post explaining Facebook’s determination, Mark Zuckerberg tacitly acknowledged as a lot. “We removed these statements yesterday because we judged that their effect—and likely their intent—would be to provoke further violence,” he wrote. While the platform beforehand tolerated Trump, “the current context is now fundamentally different, involving use of our platform to incite violent insurrection against a democratically elected government.” Trump would stay banned “indefinitely and for at least the next two weeks until the peaceful transition of power is complete.”

The determination was a placing departure from Facebook’s regular strategy to moderation in two methods. First, the corporate explicitly appeared not simply on the content material of the posts, however on the real-world context. Second, it departed from its “newsworthiness” rule that typically provides political leaders additional leeway to interrupt the foundations, on the idea that folks need to know what they must say.