“The company has created a board that can overrule even Mark Zuckerberg. Soon it will decide whether to allow Trump back on Facebook.”
“On a morning in May, 2019, forty-three lawyers, academics, and media experts gathered in the windowless basement of the NoMad New York hotel for a private meeting. The room was laid out a bit like a technologist’s wedding, with a nametag and an iPad at each seat, and large succulents as centerpieces. There were also party favors: Facebook-branded notebooks and pens. The company had convened the group to discuss the Oversight Board, a sort of private Supreme Court that it was creating to help govern speech on its platforms. The participants had all signed nondisclosure agreements. I sneaked in late and settled near the front. “Clap if you can hear me,” the moderator, a woman dressed in a black jumpsuit, said.”
“…Board members found out that they were getting the case only a half hour before the public did. Members eagerly watched the board’s internal Web site to see if they had been selected for the panel. They will now have two more months to deliberate it. Civil-society groups like the Center for Democracy & Technology and R Street, a conservative think tank, are submitting comments on the case—the equivalent of filing amicus briefs—arguing for or against Trump’s reinstatement. Trump has the opportunity to submit a brief arguing why he should be reinstated. “The board’s Trump decision may affect the liberties and, yes, lives of hundreds of millions,” Samples told me. “Few U.S. Supreme Court cases ever hold such potential for good or for ill.” Ronaldo Lemos, a board member and law professor in Rio de Janeiro, told me that he believes the board has a lot of work ahead. “The Oversight Board is not going away anytime soon,” he said. “We’re not going anywhere.”
I shared my thoughts on the piece in the tweets below.

Kate did a deep dive in the New Yorker on Facebooks new court. Her twitter thread and the article are MUST READS if you care about free speech. My replys to her twitter thread are below. https://t.co/vr9HFalnDl
— Jenny Hatch (@JennyHatch) February 16, 2021
Excellent overview of Facebooks new court. I am currently on my 5th Facebook after being deleted several times for my continued interest in Pizzagate, QAnon, and other important issues like parental rights around vaccination. I am also a Childbirth Educator who promotes Freebirth
— Jenny Hatch (@JennyHatch) February 16, 2021
I am concerned that the court is able to function hidden away. It would be so powerful for them to hold court openly, especially so those like me who have been so censored we were ripped off various platforms without a goodbye kiss can understand what exactly was the issue with
— Jenny Hatch (@JennyHatch) February 16, 2021
our content. As a creator, I think of myself as a satirist who styles my memes after various night time talk shows who constantly pummel the Trumps. The left doesn't enjoy being laughed at, so my right leaning punches at them have been memory holed over and over again.
— Jenny Hatch (@JennyHatch) February 16, 2021
I would hope going forward that if a mormon homemaker like me is being censored by social media to the point where I am not allowed to participate in the marketplace of ideas, then, something is very wrong with the rules of engagement. I would like to get my voice back. #censored pic.twitter.com/6XBB57Z5WE
— Jenny Hatch (@JennyHatch) February 16, 2021
This was beyond exhausting. I made dozens of presentations of the material to groups from Germany to London to LA to NYC. And I wrote all of those observations and thoughts and critiques up in a very lengthy piece in @YaleLJournal https://t.co/Kbvlkda7MK
— Kate Klonick (@Klonick) February 14, 2021
10/
— Jenny Hatch (@JennyHatch) February 16, 2021
Here is my blog post about being censored from @Klonick New Yorker piece on CENSORSHIP! https://t.co/QgwAHBY1sF #censorship #ConservativeSilence #TwitterShadowbannedMe After six long years I want my voice back!!! https://t.co/vr9HFalnDl pic.twitter.com/CJ7YtkwZZI
— Jenny Hatch (@JennyHatch) February 16, 2021
We want TRUMP back on all social media outlets because it’s completely insane to do these things to anyone especially the greatest PRESIDENT we have ever had !
I voted TRUMP 🇺🇸 and I stand with him regardless of anything !
Have a blessed day
Kelly and Kim Williams
Yes! We do want him back on all platforms!