Former president Donald Trump has launched a new Web site even as Facebook's content moderation oversight board prepares to decide whether that social media giant has to reinstate his account.
Facebook's decision, which is reportedly coming sometime Wednesday (May 5) could determine how big an online megaphone he will be getting.
If he is reinstated, look for that to light a fire under the efforts to eliminate or modify social media sites Sec. 230 liability protection from third-party content posted on their sites.
Also Read: Hill Advises Biden Against Sec. 230 Language in Treaties
The site already has a handful of posts, including a press release from Monday in which the former President doubled down on his debunked claims of widespread election fraud, saying: "The Fraudulent Presidential Election of 2020 will be, from this day forth, known as THE BIG LIE!"
That is a reference to the "big lie" brand his own debunked claims have carried since before the failed insurrection that followed his months of claims on social media that the election had been stolen.
Following the insurrection, Facebook canceled his account, as did Twitter and others.
Also Read: Sec. 230 Should Be Tied to Misinformation Mitigation Regime
The new Trump site includes "Save America" merchandise, the ex-president's new slogan, and "Don't Blame Me, I voted for Trump" mugs and doormats.
On the Facebook front, the company created the independent oversight board after complaints about what content it allowed on its site.
While Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said his company is already a leader in countering misinformation online, he is calling on Congress to condition online platforms' Sec. 230 immunity from civil liability for third party content moderation on demonstrable systems to identify and remove harmful content.
According to a just-released poll from Pew Research, the country is deeply divided over whether Trump's social media accounts should be reinstated.
According to a poll conducted April 12-18, 49% of U.S. adults say he should be while 50% say he should not be. But while the aggregate split is even, the political one is where the depth of the divide shows up. Only 11% of Republicans and Republican leaders say the accounts should be permanently banned, while 81% of Democrats say they should.
According to Pew, the margin of error for the survey (full sample) is plus or minus 2.2 percentage points.
