The Oversight Board of Meta Platforms has urged the company to reassess its measures aimed at curbing the promotion of political violence on its platforms. This request follows Meta’s decision to keep a controversial video online that emerged after the 2022 Brazilian elections, in which a military general encouraged public dissent.
On Thursday, the board expressed concern regarding Meta’s choice to allow the Facebook video to remain available, noting that the content, intent, and potential for imminent harm warranted its removal. The Oversight Board’s findings highlighted deficiencies in the company’s efforts to maintain election integrity.
“In this instance, given the speaker’s intent, the nature of the speech, and its potential reach, there were compelling reasons to remove the post,” stated the Oversight Board, which issues recommendations that are not mandatory for Meta to follow.
After initially permitting the video to stay up, Meta opted to remove it on January 20, coinciding with the board’s decision to take on the case.
With the United States gearing up for the presidential elections next year, Meta’s strategies for addressing election-related issues have come under scrutiny.
Facebook and Instagram, both operated by Meta, are among the largest social media platforms globally and have historically been leveraged to disseminate misinformation and provoke violence.
During the 2020 elections, Meta reported that its platforms had been utilized by certain Russian entities to influence American voters in the lead-up to the 2016 elections, which resulted in a victory for Republican candidate Donald Trump.
The company also played a significant role in suspending Trump in 2021 following the January 6 Capitol riots, concluding that he had incited violence. Earlier this year, Trump was reinstated on these platforms.
In a response to the Oversight Board, Meta acknowledged that it currently lacks metrics to evaluate the success of its general election integrity initiatives.
The Oversight Board was established in late 2020 to assess Meta’s content moderation decisions and to determine whether to uphold or overturn those choices.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
