Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Panel Overturns 4 Facebook Content Takedowns in First Ruling
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 3 years ago on
January 28, 2021

Share

LONDON — Facebook’s quasi-independent oversight board issued its first rulings on Thursday, overturning four out of five decisions by the social network to take down questionable content.

The social media giant set up the oversight panel to rule on thorny issues about content on its platforms, in response to furious criticism about its inability to respond swiftly and effectively to misinformation, hate speech and nefarious influence campaigns.

Facebook regularly takes down thousands of posts and accounts, and about 150,000 of those cases have appealed to the oversight board since it launched in November. The board is prioritizing for review select cases that have the potential to affect lots of users around the world.

In its initial batch of rulings, the board ordered Facebook to restore posts by users that the company said broke standards on adult nudity, hate speech, or dangerous individuals.

One case, in which a Brazilian user’s Instagram post about breast cancer was automatically removed because it included images of female nipples, should have been allowed because the platform makes an exception for breast cancer awareness, the board said.

A Myanmar user’s Burmese-language Facebook post about Muslims that included two widely shared photos of a dead Syrian toddler was offensive but did not rise to the level of hate speech, it ruled.

The Decisions Are Binding, Meaning CEO Mark Zuckerberg Can’t Do Anything to Change Them

A post with a quote falsely attributed to Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi propaganda minister, was cleared after the user told the board the intent was to compared the sentiment in the quote with Donald Trump’s presidency.

The board said a fourth post in French about COVID-19 that had been taken down because it breached standards on misinformation should be restored, saying it didn’t pose imminent harm.

The decisions are binding, meaning CEO Mark Zuckerberg can’t do anything to change them.

The board agreed only with Facebook’s decision to take down a post with a slur used to describe Azerbeijanis, stemming from last year’s conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the dispute territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Still yet to come is the panel’s most high profile case – the decision to indefinitely suspend former President Donald Trump’s account. It will be the biggest test for the panel, which faces criticism that Facebook set it up to stave off regulation or even an eventual breakup of the company as it faces antitrust scrutiny.

Co-chair Michael McConnell said the panel had started working on the Trump case but was only at an “extremely early stage.”

“All this has happened extremely recently so they’re at the very beginning of their work,” he told an online press briefing.

The oversight board will start accepting public comments on the Trump case on Friday.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

Jewish Temple, Catholic Church Vandalized in Fresno

DON'T MISS

Valley PBS’ Top 2 Executives Departing. Were Their Resignations a Surprise?

DON'T MISS

Unfiltered Clip: Insights from Dr. Trita Parsi on Navigating the Israel-Palestine Conflict

DON'T MISS

Hamas Is Sending a Delegation to Egypt for Further Cease-Fire Talks in the Latest Sign of Progress

DON'T MISS

President Joe Biden Calls Japan and India ‘Xenophobic’ Nations That Do Not Welcome Immigrants

DON'T MISS

DEA’s Marijuana Reclassification Could Revive California’s Struggling Pot Industry

DON'T MISS

How to Reclaim the Israel-Palestine Debate From the Radicals on Both Sides

DON'T MISS

US Airstrike Targeting Al-Qaida Leader in Syria Killed a Farmer, American Military Says

DON'T MISS

Today’s Campus Protests Aren’t Nearly as Big or Violent as Those of the Vietnam Era

DON'T MISS

Mike Yaz Homers at Fenway In Giants Win After Visit From His Hall of Fame Grandpa

UP NEXT

Another State Department Official Resigns Over Biden’s Gaza Policy

UP NEXT

Senators Want Limits on Government’s Use of Facial Recognition Technology for Airport Screening

UP NEXT

Biden Says ‘Order Must Prevail’ on Campuses, but He Won’t Send National Guard

UP NEXT

Police Dismantle UCLA Tent Camp, Take Pro-Palestinian Protesters Into Custody

UP NEXT

Fresno State’s Randa Jarrar Dragged Out of Event Featuring Big Bang Theory’s Mayim Bialik

UP NEXT

Trump Calls Judge ‘Crooked’ After Facing a Warning of Jail Time if He Violates a Trial Gag Order

UP NEXT

Biden’s Historic Marijuana Shift Is His Latest Election Year Move for Young Voters

UP NEXT

The Latest | In Israel, Blinken Pushes Hamas to Agree on Gaza Cease-Fire Deal

UP NEXT

What Marijuana Reclassification Means for the United States

UP NEXT

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene Vows to Force a Vote on Ousting House Speaker Mike Johnson

Hamas Is Sending a Delegation to Egypt for Further Cease-Fire Talks in the Latest Sign of Progress

5 hours ago

President Joe Biden Calls Japan and India ‘Xenophobic’ Nations That Do Not Welcome Immigrants

6 hours ago

DEA’s Marijuana Reclassification Could Revive California’s Struggling Pot Industry

6 hours ago

How to Reclaim the Israel-Palestine Debate From the Radicals on Both Sides

6 hours ago

US Airstrike Targeting Al-Qaida Leader in Syria Killed a Farmer, American Military Says

6 hours ago

Today’s Campus Protests Aren’t Nearly as Big or Violent as Those of the Vietnam Era

6 hours ago

Mike Yaz Homers at Fenway In Giants Win After Visit From His Hall of Fame Grandpa

7 hours ago

Lagging Revenue Drives California Budget Deficit as Deadline Nears

7 hours ago

Valley Children’s Gets ‘Historic’ Gift to Boost Cancer Treatments. How Big Is It?

Californians Are Protecting Themselves from Wildfire. Why Is There an Insurance Crisis?

8 hours ago

Jewish Temple, Catholic Church Vandalized in Fresno

Fresno police are investigating an incident of flyers posted on the exterior windows of Temple Beth Israel. The flyers appear to be religiou...

2 hours ago

2 hours ago

Jewish Temple, Catholic Church Vandalized in Fresno

Entertainment /
4 hours ago

Valley PBS’ Top 2 Executives Departing. Were Their Resignations a Surprise?

Video /
4 hours ago

Unfiltered Clip: Insights from Dr. Trita Parsi on Navigating the Israel-Palestine Conflict

5 hours ago

Hamas Is Sending a Delegation to Egypt for Further Cease-Fire Talks in the Latest Sign of Progress

6 hours ago

President Joe Biden Calls Japan and India ‘Xenophobic’ Nations That Do Not Welcome Immigrants

6 hours ago

DEA’s Marijuana Reclassification Could Revive California’s Struggling Pot Industry

6 hours ago

How to Reclaim the Israel-Palestine Debate From the Radicals on Both Sides

6 hours ago

US Airstrike Targeting Al-Qaida Leader in Syria Killed a Farmer, American Military Says

MENU

CONNECT WITH US

Search

Send this to a friend