Zuckerberg Explains Why Bannon Wasn't Suspended

Steve Bannon's call for the beheading of FBI Director Christopher Wray and government infectious diseases expert Anthony Fauci didn't warrant a Facebook suspension, according to CEO Mark Zuckerberg. In a recording from an all-staff meeting on Thursday, Zuckerberg said the former White House chief strategist—who said he would put the mens' heads on pikes outside the White House as a "warning" on his "War Room" podcast on Nov. 5—hadn't violated enough of the company's policies to warrant a suspension, per Reuters. Twitter permanently banned Bannon's podcast account and suspended his personal account for violating a policy "on the glorification of violence." YouTube removed the podcast video and put a strike on the account. Facebook removed the video after about 10 hours, per the Guardian, but Bannon's page remains accessible.

Zuckerberg said Facebook has "specific rules around how many times you need to violate certain policies before we will deactivate your account completely." He added the offences "came close to crossing that line" but "they clearly did not cross the line." Facebook spokesman Andy Stone tells Reuters that further action will be taken "if there are additional violations." Zuckerberg also acknowledged criticism from President-elect Joe Biden, who told the New York Times in December that he had "never been a fan of Facebook" and thought Zuckerberg was "a real problem." This week, the deputy communications director for the Biden campaign also claimed disinformation on Facebook "is shredding the fabric of our democracy." Zuckerberg said the criticism wasn't necessarily reflective of what the "whole administration is going to stand for." (More Mark Zuckerberg stories.)