Facebook’s content oversight board received 20,000 cases since it started to function

Since a various number of social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram came into being, many of their users’ accounts are also reported and blocked due to their inappropriate content. To meet the privacy concerns of the users these platforms are trying their best to make their apps a safe place for them to use.

To tackle all these problems; Facebook launched its content oversight board upon the proposal of Mark Zuckerberg in November 2018. This is a group that ensures that the data posted on Facebook is considerable or not. It especially works against those profiles, posts, and pages that promote negativity. It might include Cyberbullying, harming someone’s self-worth through words, hate speech, nudity, and depression causing posts for intentionally degrading people regarding their size, color, and even body shape. After choosing the board members; they were made public on 6th May 2020.

In its blog post, the company announced that since October it has received 20,000 reported cases and has decided to focus on 6 occurrences. Facebook wasn’t observed directly saying this time that how much time would it take to resolve these issues. However, it was previously reported to have said that a period of 90 days would be required by the company to take action; and resolve the issue.

The first case was reported of former Malaysian Prime Minister; Dc. Mahathir Muhammad; who was violent against the French people. The moment the post was viewed by the Facebook team, it was removed for violating its hate speech policy. Two screenshots of the former Prime Minister’s tweet were posted by a Facebook user which said that because of what French people have done to Muslims in the past - they now have the right to kill French folks.

The second case was reported when a user posted two photos of the departed child - lying on the water edge of a beach while he was fully clothed. The text in Burmese questioned no action being taken against China’s inhumane treatment of Uyghur Muslims and leaving it ignored. It further linked it with recent killings in France; on the creation of cartoons and linking them with Prophet Muhammad. The posts begging; for sympathies for Syrian refugees was also considered removing- by Facebook.

An Instagram user from Brazil posted 8 photos for raising awareness of breast cancer among women which was also preferred by Facebook to be removed. Among the eight, five of them were visible and unclothed pictures of nipples which gave information in caption regarding its signs and symptoms in Portuguese. The user justified it by saying that it was done to serve the purpose of giving knowledge about its signs and symptoms. However, Facebook claimed that the post was violating its policy regarding adult sexual content and the promotion of nudity.


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