केस विवरण
The Oversight Board will address the four cases below together, choosing either to uphold or overturn Meta’s decisions on a case-by-case basis. They involve four images, three posted on Instagram and one on Facebook.
In the first case, an Instagram user posted an image featuring two bare-breasted women in the traditional attire of the Himba people of Namibia, with a caption that references the Himba. Based on the user’s profile, the image and its caption, the user does not appear to be Himba but a visitor or tourist. Meta’s automated tools identified and removed the image. The user appealed the removal. After human review, Meta confirmed its decision to remove the content for violating its Adult Nudity policy was correct.
In the second case, a user posted a short video on their Instagram account of a Himba man dancing bare-chested, with bare-breasted women in traditional attire in the background. The caption contains English, French and Arabic words as well as Himba, dance, culture and travel hashtags. Meta’s automated tools identified the image as potentially violating and sent it to a human reviewer, who found the content did violate the rules on adult nudity and removed it.
Both users in these cases appealed to the Board, stating their content was important for highlighting the traditional attire and practices of the Himba people, and promoting cultural awareness and education.
In the third case, the official Instagram account of a political party in Brazil posted an image of indigenous women in traditional Yanomami clothing with their breasts uncovered. Portuguese text on the image praises government efforts to reduce fires and combat illegal mining on Yanomami indigenous lands. The caption, also in Portuguese, emphasizes the importance of the government protecting indigenous land rights. The post was identified as potentially violating by Meta’s automated tools. As the account is part of the cross-check system, the post was then sent for additional review. That review determined the content violated the Adult Nudity policy and Meta removed the post. The user who posted the content then reached out to a personal point of contact at Meta to appeal the removal. Finally, Meta’s policy experts determined the content should be allowed on Instagram due to its newsworthiness, despite violating the policy. Meta noted the post was from a political party discussing political issues and that the public interest value outweighed the risk of harm.
In the fourth case, a German newspaper’s Facebook page posted an image of a bare-breasted indigenous woman holding a child. The caption, written in German, describes a visit by a U.S. journalist to a Mayan village in Mexico and her perspective as a mother on local parenting, also providing a link to an article. The indigenous woman in the image does not appear to be Mayan. The image seems to belong to a photo agency, appearing in online collections of an indigenous Ethiopian group. A user reported this content to Meta and two human reviewers agreed it violated the Adult Nudity policy. However, as this account is also in the cross-check program, the post was sent for additional review. Meta then determined the content should receive a “spirit of the policy” allowance and remain on Facebook. Meta noted that because the user was a news outlet, the company believed the image of the indigenous woman was taken with consent and on the understanding it would be distributed.
The third and fourth posts were referred to the Board by Meta. According to the company, they raise difficult questions about the Adult Nudity and Sexual Activity policy, and how to balance expression, privacy and dignity. The policy prohibits: “Imagery, and digital imagery, of adult nudity” in a variety of contexts, including, “uncovered female nipples, except in a breastfeeding, mastectomy, medical, health, or act of protest context.” There is no formal exception within the policy for indigenous women with their breasts uncovered, in non-sexual contexts. However, the company sometimes allows this content via newsworthiness and spirit of the policy exceptions, as it did in the third and fourth cases. The company distinguished the first and second cases, finding it was more difficult to infer consent, stating there was greater risk of the content being sexualized.
The Board selected these cases to assess the impact of Meta’s nudity rules on Indigenous Peoples, particularly women. This case falls within the Board’s strategic priority of Gender.
The Board would appreciate public comments that address:
- Insights on the Himba, Yanomami and other Indigenous Peoples’ customs of nudity as part of their cultural expression.
- The views of Himba, Yanomami and other Indigenous Peoples, particularly women, on being shown bare-breasted in media and social media.
- Any impacts on the rights to expression and the ability to maintain a presence on social media for Indigenous Peoples with a tradition of partial nudity, particularly on platforms that prohibit such nudity.
- Any impacts on the rights to privacy and dignity for Indigenous Peoples with a tradition of partial nudity on platforms that permit such nudity.
- How other social media companies address indigenous nudity, the ability of technology to identify indigenous women shown bare-breasted, and how consent might be determined or inferred on social media.
As part of its decisions, the Board can issue policy recommendations to Meta. While recommendations are not binding, Meta must respond to them within 60 days. As such, the Board welcomes public comments proposing recommendations that are relevant to these cases.
Public Comments
If you or your organization feel you can contribute valuable perspectives that can help with reaching a decision on the cases announced today, you can submit your contributions using the button below. Please note that public comments can be provided anonymously. The public comment window is open for 14 days, closing at 23.59 Pacific Standard Time (PST) on Thursday 23 January.
What’s Next
Over the next few weeks, Board Members will be deliberating these cases. Once they have reached their decision, we will post it on the Decisions page.
