Facebook rules are internally inconsistent, says oversight board leader

Michael McConnell, the co-chair of the Facebook Oversight Board, criticized the social media platform in the wake of its indefinite ban on former President Donald Trump, saying Facebook's rules are in "shambles."

McConnell did note that the board also have made recommendations to the company to increase transparency.

"They needed some time because their rules are shambles, they are not transparent, they are unclear, they are internally inconsistent," McConnell said.

He added, "we gave a series of recommendations about how to make their rules clearer and more consistent."

The Oversight Board upheld Facebook's current ban on Trump for his posts on Jan. 6, with some caveats.

"Trump is subject to the same rules on Facebook as everyone else, and the Oversight Board held that this was, in fact, a violation and thus Facebook was justified in taking them down," McConnell said. 

"What we did say, though, was that they were not justified in taking him down indefinitely, that they did not provide any reasons for that, that is not a provision in their rules. That was wrong."

Meanwhile, The ex-President has launched his own communications platform called From the Desk of Donald J Trump. The platform which is a subsection of Trump’s official website was launched on May 5. The announcement comes months after Trump was kicked out of all major social platforms including Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and more.

(With inputs from agencies)