Donald Trump's Facebook page (illustration).

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M. ALLILI / SIPA

Has Facebook gone too far by suspending Donald Trump "indefinitely" on its platforms (Instagram included) after the violence on Capitol Hill?

Launched last May, the California-based company's supervisory board announced Thursday that it would review the controversial decision.

It was Facebook that decided to refer its decision to the Supervisory Board.

Made up of 20 wise men (rights professors, activists, civil rights experts, etc.) and notably co-chaired by former Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, this body is funded by Facebook via funds made irrevocably available in a trust.

Created to examine the most sensitive issues related to moderation, the council issues binding opinions that Mark Zuckerberg and his company are obliged to adhere to.

Many "uncomfortable" officials

In the aftermath of the assault on the Capitol, Facebook announced an “indefinite” suspension of Donald Trump's accounts, believing that he had “incited” this insurrection and “threatened the peaceful transfer of power”, while the elected officials were gathered to Congress to validate the election results.

Twitter has also banned Donald Trump.

YouTube suspended its account for a week, and extended the duration to seven days on Tuesday.

This decision of the Gafa is far from unanimous.

Angela Merkel, in particular, considered it "problematic", and French government spokesperson Gabriel Attal said he was "uncomfortable" that a voice representing 74 million voters was unilaterally muzzled.

The person concerned raised the possibility of launching his own platform.

But in practice, the challenge is immense.

Prized by the far right for its lax moderation, the social network Parler has, for example, been banned from the app stores of Apple and Google, and dropped by its host Amazon.

After a blackout period, Parler is partially back online but is encountering numerous technical difficulties.

On the Internet, escaping the Gafa is an almost impossible mission.

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