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Right, that seems to be a small spring. There is a screw which locks it to the base and it is curved similarly like some battery connections of older phones. It is definitively not a switch, the "switch" is a hall effect sensor combined with a magnet at the opposite part.

As far as I know this is not a switch. My guess is that it is a spring dampening the close.

Ooh, thanks for this. I tested pressing that down on mine with a little screwdriver, didn't seem to have much effect. Apparently my microphone on the device is also dead. So...I'm gonna send it in to FxTec and let 'em replace the screen + fix whatever I did when I dropped it again. Even if the device has to take a few months break and/or be a backup device, I want to have it for the long haul.

My GUESS would be that either the hall sensor (in the bottom half) or the magnet (in the top) triggering it has been shaken loose, and is now out of place. The sensor is near the camera button about 12mm closer to the keyboard, and roughly 5mm in from the USB edge If the sensor is in place, it does not have to be a powerful magnet to trigger it. An ordinary screwdriver magnetised in the right direction can do the trick, You can check the position of the magnet with a nail, screw or the like, to see where it can hang when the slider is open. it should be about 5 respectively 12mm fro

Actually, there is a (vendor) tool to flash the screen firmware without reinstalling the OS. However, it is made for Android 9 and, while it seems to work in LOS 16.0, it has been found to not work on 18.1. See this post by @Rob. S. and subsequent ones.

Update to November 17, with November 5 security patch using OTA went slowly but smoothly. Known keyboard bug still there (see lineage thread)

I just tried on mine (AICP without Magisk), I get no fix at all so something is broken indeed. I'm a little unsure if it was on Lineage or AICP I had it working before (seldom have location on). But I THINK it has been working on AICP-R for me earlier....