Having posts gotten rid of happens almost on a daily basis. At times it’s usually not even exactly clear why a certain piece of content is suddenly suspended. Luckily, the Oversight Board has chosen to intervene. The body will now be taking appeals from Facebook and Instagram users who have had their content taken down.
Users of these two social media sites will be able to seek assistance when they feel that their content has been wrongfully flagged as breaching Facebook’s content guidelines.
Submissions will have to be made directly to the Oversight Board who will then review them independently.
The Oversight Board is a global body set up to protect users across social media sites against harsh decisions that seem to hinder free expression. So it is what you might refer to as the moderator of social media moderators.
“The Board is eager to get to work,” said Catalina Botero-Marino, Co-Chair of the Oversight Board. “We won’t be able to hear every appeal, but want our decisions to have the widest possible value, and will be prioritizing cases that have the potential to impact many users around the world, are of critical importance to public discourse, and raise questions about Facebook’s policies.”
The board also has the freedom to consult the company concerned to ensure clarity on any given policy. All one has to do is got the board’s website to submit their eligible cases.
“Content that could lead to urgent, real-world consequences will be reviewed as quickly as possible,” said Jamal Greene, Co-Chair of the Oversight Board. “The Board provides a critical independent check on Facebook’s approach to moderating content on the most significant issues, but doesn’t remove the responsibility of Facebook to act first and to act fast in emergencies.”
The Board expects to reach case decisions and these sites to act on the decisions within a maximum of 90 days.
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