After his lies about the validity of the 2020 election prompted a mob of extremists to storm the United States Capitol in a deadly failed insurrection, former President Donald Trump was banned or suspended from Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and a wealth of other social media outlets.
The bans and suspensions prompted Republicans to claim that Big Tech was deliberately silencing the President and targeting conservative voices.
On Wednesday, Facebook's Oversight Board reviewed its indefinite suspension on Trump's account, which began in January. The board ruled that Trump's ban was justified and decided to keep it in place, while urging the company to review its decision again in six months.
Conservatives once again slammed Facebook, a private company, for supposedly encroaching on the right to free speech.
Prominent Trump supporter and founder of the conservative organization Turning Point USA, Charlie Kirk, called on the Supreme Court to step in.
The US Supreme Court should overturn the Facebook’s “Oversight Board’s” “ruling” which upholds the outlawing of the… https://t.co/NhRvemwOXn— Charlie Kirk (@Charlie Kirk) 1620221365.0
Kirk said the nation's highest court should "overturn" the Oversight Board's ruling, apparently not realizing how the Supreme Court works.
The Oversight Board's ruling was part of a private company's internal process assessing the enforcement of its rules. The ruling was not federal litigation. It wasn't argued in a court of law. There is nothing for the Supreme Court to overturn.
People were amazed that Kirk didn't seem to grasp this.
Charlie thinks FB’s committee is an actual court. Right wingers are dumb AF. https://t.co/5wdnB3pX1u— melissa “cancel student debt” byrne (@melissa “cancel student debt” byrne) 1620236829.0
Yeah, no—the Facebook Oversight Board’s decisions are not appealable to #SCOTUS. https://t.co/2MoW3l1CLB— Steve Vladeck (@Steve Vladeck) 1620223303.0
No surprise, but Charlie Kirk has no idea what "standing" means. It has nothing to do with the person/entity being… https://t.co/CNiFB2ZJzn— Kurt "Masks Save Lives" Eichenwald (@Kurt "Masks Save Lives" Eichenwald) 1620232584.0
Once again, the surest sign that you might be a moron is if you’ve ever for any reason thought Charlie Kirk was sma… https://t.co/EOOCMVpyuz— Torsten (@Torsten) 1620235578.0
Apparently, @charliekirk11 doesn’t comprehend the vast difference between Facebook keeping someone off their platfo… https://t.co/nXNuo64LwJ— Tyler Hamilton (@Tyler Hamilton) 1620235170.0
ICYMI Conservative thought leader Charlie Kirk, who did not attend college (and likely slept through high school ci… https://t.co/zSVv3BFdpP— Lucy Caldwell (@Lucy Caldwell) 1620231211.0
What's more, the action Kirk was demanding the Court take seemed in direct opposition to major tenets of the Republican platform—free markets and minimal government interference.
For a party that claims unfettered loyalty to free market ideology, Republicans have a lot thoughts about what priv… https://t.co/Xpt9Buz2qV— Jeff E. Guy 🐕 (@Jeff E. Guy 🐕) 1620234263.0
Republicans did this to themselves. They wanted private companies to run without government interference. Sorry I'm… https://t.co/DOS6oxCyKb— PennyLane (@PennyLane) 1620235740.0
Let's see here, Charlie is asking a branch of the US government to unilaterally use its power to overrule a private… https://t.co/5W3U5Mw4xy— LaserEyesFDR (@LaserEyesFDR) 1620236386.0
Unabashed fascism is a Republican talking point now. https://t.co/LeGlpOakgj— Bodgerton (@Bodgerton) 1620236090.0
Kirk is now arguing that Facebook's oversight board is biased and that no Republicans should accept money from Big Tech platforms going forward.