NOTICE News for January 27, 2023

On today’s NOTICE News: The company that owns Facebook and Instagram have decided former President Donald Trump can have his accounts back. They were suspended after the insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Plus: The NOTICE News quiz! Here’s a transcript of today’s show.

Discussion Questions

  1. What was Meta’s reasoning for suspending President Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts following the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6th, 2021?
  2. What two reasons did Meta give for permitting President Trump to return to its social networks?
  3. Critics of the decision to allow President Trump back on Facebook and Instagram cite his current presence on his own network, Truth Social.  What do they say Trump is doing on his social network that continues to make them concerned?
  4. What is still unknown about Trump returning to Facebook and Instagram, now that he’s not being barred?

Writing Prompts

  1. Social networks are supposed to be forums where there is a free exchange of ideas. For those critics who didn’t like that President Trump was banned from multiple social networks in the first place, what arguments could they make to support their view?  Given that spurring the violence of January 6th, 2021, was cited as reasoning for expelling Trump, what arguments could people make that support that decision?
  2. Meta says that they’re going to use “guardrails” to attempt to curb President Trump’s actions on their social media platforms. Does a company have the right to do something like that? Do you think such “guardrails” will deter President Trump from whatever actions he intends to take?

Further Reading

Have A Great Weekend!