In 2018, Mark Zuckerberg said he would like to set up an independent board to review some user appeals of rejected content. In January 2019, Facebook began to develop this idea and now comes with a comprehensive 44-page document that presents research results and outlines how the process should work.
It is not an easy task to find a balance between free expression and the protection of users from all over the world. Facebook is trying to make decisions on content to be transparent and without prejudice. Community standards are the main priority. Thousands of people, along with AI technologies, control huge amounts of content every day. However, Facebook wants to improve its system and cannot set the standard of freedom of expression itself.
Facebook has spent the last six months thoroughly exploring how content control should work through a survey and consultation addressed to more than 2,000 people from 85 countries in various positions, from scientists and managers to general users. The product of this is the Global Feedback & Input on the Facebook Oversight Board for Content Decisions, which summarizes the survey results and presents a preliminary plan on how the board should work.
The first review would be done by Facebook, according to its community standards, and if necessary, a further review would be conducted by a board consisting of independent people who do not work for Facebook. The new board will have 40 members and will deal with the most complicated and controversial cases.
The resulting report is not the final document, but the first step on the way to a deeper exploration of the issue. Facebook wants to build a system to protect freedom of expression. Its goal is to help users connect with other people and wants to make sure they are safe.
You can find the complete report at the following link.
Facebook is also working on more monitoring for Instagram, where it is preparing new measures to combat fake news.
