Meta’s Board criticising management for lack of independence against authorities

Author Moonshot.news

Published on: 23/11/2022

Meta’s Oversight Board is worried that the management too easily follows instructions from governments and authorities. In a case that concerns the company’s Instagram, the board says the “case raises concerns about Meta’s relationships with governments, particularly where law enforcement requests lead to lawful content being reviewed against the Community Standards and removed.”

The board has overturned Meta’s decision to remove a UK drill music video clip from Instagram. Meta originally removed the content following a request from the Metropolitan Police.

Among the board’s recommendations is to create a standardized system for receiving content removal requests from state actors. This should include asking for criteria such as how a policy has been violated, and the evidence for this.

“This case raises concerns about Meta’s relationships with law enforcement, which has the potential to amplify bias”, the board says and makes recommendations to improve respect for due process and transparency in these relationships.

In January 2022, an Instagram account that describes itself as publicizing British music posted content highlighting the release of the UK drill music track, “Secrets Not Safe” by Chinx (OS), including a clip of the track’s music video.

Shortly after, the Metropolitan Police emailed Meta requesting that the company review all content containing “Secrets Not Safe.” Meta also received additional context from the Metropolitan Police. According to Meta, this covered information on gang violence, including murders, in London, and the police’s concern that the track could lead to further retaliatory violence.

The company removed the content from the account under review for violating its Violence and Incitement policy. It also removed 52 pieces of content containing the track “Secrets Not Safe” from other accounts, including Chinx (OS)’s. Meta’s automated systems later removed the content another 112 times.

The Board finds that removing this content does not align with Meta’s Community Standards, its values, or its human rights responsibilities.

“Meta lacked sufficient evidence to conclude that the content contained a credible threat, and the Board’s own review did not uncover evidence to support such a finding. In the absence of such evidence, Meta should have given more weight to the content’s artistic nature.”

“While law enforcement can sometimes provide context and expertise, not every piece of content that law enforcement would prefer to have taken down should be taken down. It is therefore critical that Meta evaluates these requests independently, particularly when they relate to artistic expression from individuals in minority or marginalized groups for whom the risk of cultural bias against their content is acute.”