The independent body overseeing Facebook, often referred to as its “Supreme Court,” is currently soliciting input regarding a significant and early case it is reviewing. The Facebook Oversight Board revealed on Friday that it has begun accepting public responses concerning Facebook’s decision to suspend former President Trump’s account.

Facebook’s founder, Mark Zuckerberg, declared Trump’s suspension on January 7th, following the then-President’s encouragement of his supporters to protest at the U.S. Capitol building. This event led to multiple fatalities and threatened the orderly transfer of power.

In a communication requesting public input, the Oversight Board details the two posts that prompted Trump’s suspension. The first is a version of a video the President circulated on the day of the Capitol disturbance, where he expressed sympathy for those involved in the riot and supported their assertion that the “election was stolen.” The second post repeats these claims, incorrectly lamenting a “sacred landslide election victory” that was allegedly “unceremoniously & viciously stripped away.”

The board explains that the purpose of this public comment period is to gather “diverse perspectives” from outside sources who may offer research to aid in their deliberations. However, it is anticipated that the board will likely receive a large volume of subjective and potentially unhelpful political opinions. Despite this, the comment submission process will remain open for 10 days, with all submissions being compiled as an addendum to each case. The board intends to deliver a ruling on Trump’s Facebook status within 90 days of January 21st, although a decision may be reached sooner.

The Oversight Board is specifically requesting public comments that address:

The Oversight Board’s statement provides a detailed analysis of the Trump suspension, criticizing Facebook for its lack of precision in identifying the specific community standards that were breached. Along with the five recent cases it has reviewed, the board appears to see its function as a technical one, focused on evaluating each case against Facebook’s established rules and offering suggestions for future policies, rather than formulating broad recommendations and then applying them retroactively.

The Facebook Oversight Board publicized its initial set of rulings this week, reversing the company’s own decisions to remove potentially problematic content in four out of five instances. While these cases were not related to the suspension of Trump’s account, they demonstrate that the Oversight Board is willing to challenge Facebook’s judgments – particularly regarding content removal.