This is the moment.

Facebook has referred Trump's suspension to the @OversightBoard, an independent global body of freedom of expression experts and will abide by their decision.

I've been inside FB following the creation of this Board for the last 2 years. Some thoughts:
1/ https://twitter.com/OversightBoard/status/1352300728623247360

Since Trump was suspended, people have called on FB to send this to the Board -- this was, after all, almost exactly what the Board was created to do! To create more transparency and process around globally significant freedom of expression decisions!
2/

There was a damned if you do, damned if you don't question about sending it, however. On the one hand, it divests a huge amount of power from FB to give the Board authority over this. On the other hand, maybe the Board is too nascent to take on such an enormous question.
3/

There are going to be a lot of "this is a Marbury v. Madison moment" -- the Board can establish its seriousness and jurisdiction/power over FB.

That could be good for the Board but it also means that it's very risky for establishing legitimacy, esp. so early in its history.
4/

But not sending it also would have also been a damning message -- that the Board's authority was limited and that FB didn't really intend to give it any hard questions.

5/

Whenever it comes, the outcome--reinstating Trump or not!--will have incredibly polarizing reactions.

But setting that aside, I'm fascinated to see what the Board decides, and how they get to that decision -- because that is really what this new governance regime is about:
6/

Not the end results of what stays up or what comes down, but creating a TRANSPARENT GLOBAL PROCESS to adjudicate these human rights issues of speech, not just letting those calls rest in the hands of a lucky few in Silicon Valley.

7/7

And for a *very* in depth discussion of how the Board was created, please see my piece in the @YaleLJournal! https://www.yalelawjournal.org/feature/the-facebook-oversight-board