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Meta’s Oversight Board says Facebook should change the rules for wartime posts

Summary

The Oversight Board has overturned a Facebook moderation decision about a post comparing Russian soldiers to Nazis, saying Meta should take special care with moderation during an “unlawful military intervention.” The board found that the post was making a historical argument comparing the behavior of Russian soldiers to Nazis at a particular point in time, not making a blanket claim that Russians were comparable to Nazis. It also found that the violent content policy shouldn’t have been applied, noting that it applied vaguely to pictures of “violent” deaths — without further clarification that could help users figure out the standard. The board urges Meta to consider the context of a violent conflict between Russia and Ukraine — which, it notes, is widely accepted as unlawful — when moderating content. The board also recommends clearer public-facing rules for posts that include potentially violent imagery or language.

Q&As

What was the Meta Oversight Board's decision about the Facebook moderation decision regarding a post comparing Russian soldiers to Nazis?
The Meta Oversight Board overturned a Facebook moderation decision about a post comparing Russian soldiers to Nazis, saying Meta should take special care with moderation during an “unlawful military intervention.”

What is the Meta Oversight Board and what is its purpose?
The Meta Oversight Board is a semi-independent board that reviews Facebook moderation decisions.

What is the context of the post that the Meta Oversight Board was reviewing?
The post that the Meta Oversight Board was reviewing was made in April 2022, around two months after Russia began its still ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

What are the implications of the Meta Oversight Board's decision?
The implications of the Meta Oversight Board's decision are that Facebook will need to change its policies for wartime conflict to take into consideration the circumstances of unlawful military intervention.

What is Facebook's stance on moderating content during wartime conflict?
Facebook's stance on moderating content during wartime conflict is that it should allow “neutral reference to a potential outcome of an action or an advisory warning” — even if that potential outcome involves violence.

AI Comments

👍 I think it's great that the Oversight Board is urging Facebook to take into consideration the circumstances of unlawful military intervention when moderating posts.

👎 I think it's terrible that the Oversight Board is urging Facebook to take into consideration the circumstances of unlawful military intervention when moderating posts.

AI Discussion

Me: It's about a decision by the Meta Oversight Board regarding a Facebook post.

Friend: What was the decision?

Me: The Board overturned a Facebook moderation decision about a post comparing Russian soldiers to Nazis, saying Meta should take special care with moderation during an "unlawful military intervention."

Friend: That's interesting. I didn't know that Facebook had an Oversight Board.

Me: Yeah, it's a semi-independent board that reviews moderation decisions made by Facebook.

Friend: So what do you think about the decision?

Me: I think it makes sense. I mean, if violence is itself lawful under international law, then speech urging such violence should be treated differently.

Friend: Yeah, I agree. It's just a lot of people on Facebook don't seem to understand or care about the context of posts, so I'm not sure how effective this will be.

Action items

Technical terms

Meta
Meta is a social media platform.
Oversight Board
The Oversight Board is a semi-independent body that reviews moderation decisions made by Meta.
Hate speech
Hate speech is speech that attacks or demeans a particular group, usually based on race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation.
Graphic content
Graphic content is content that is graphic or violent in nature.
Violent content
Violent content is content that is violent or graphic in nature.

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