No longer will politicians get the VIP treatment from Facebook Inc. while the rest of us shmucks face the slings and arrows of the company’s content policies, according to a report in The Verge today.

Facebook in the past had turned a blind eye to content posted by politicians even though it may have breached the company’s rules. The reason was such content, even if a flagrant transgression was made, might still be in the “public interest.” That came to a head in 2020 when employees at Facebook protested over former President Donald Trump not being reprimanded after he seemed to appear to “incite violence.”

Trump was eventually cast out, although his ban was more like an indefinite suspension. That suspension was recently upheld by Facebook’s Oversight Board, although the company was told that an impermanent ban wasn’t consistent with Facebook’s rules for severe violations.

The rules weren’t clear, Facebook was told, and they should be. The company was asked to “address widespread confusion about how decisions relating to influential users are made.” The board recommended changes to policy and asked Facebook to respond no later than June 5.

One of the changes was that Facebook should treat all users alike but should act quickly when very influential users post content that could be harmful. However, the board said that should apply to everyone and “newsworthiness should not take priority when urgent action” is needed.

According to The Verge, Facebook has heeded the advice. It not only plans to be more transparent about how it issues strikes to people but will start to enforce its rules with parity. If Facebook does keep a post up just because it thinks the public needs to hear it, it will come with a clear explanation.

As it stands, content and ads posted by politicians aren’t judged by Facebook’s third-party fact-checking program. That’s reportedly going to stay, but Facebook will announce on Friday that such content will be scrutinized for breaking other rules such as bullying.

Facebook itself hasn’t commented on the matter, while the issue of Trump ever getting his account back is still up in the air.

Photo: Marco Paköeningrat/Flickr