Oversight Board Publishes Four Summary Decisions, Including on Antisemitism, Law Enforcement and Violence
September 13, 2023
Today, we are issuing four summary decisions about a response to antisemitism; criticism of law enforcement in Indonesia; calls for violence in Ethiopia; and political commentary by a Lebanese activist. Summary decisions examine cases where Meta reversed its original decision on a piece of content after we brought the case to the company's attention.
What Are Summary Decisions?
After our Case Selection Committee, which is comprised of Board Members, has identified a list of cases to consider for selection, Meta sometimes determines that its original decision on a post was incorrect, and reverses it. So far, Meta has reversed its original decision in this way for around 100 cases that we have brought to its attention. In the vast majority of these cases, this meant that Meta restored the content in question.
The fact that Meta reverses its original decision does not prevent the Board from reviewing these kinds of cases. These have led to some of our most important decisions, including “ breast cancer symptoms and nudity” and “ Öcalan’s isolation.” As a Board, we want to examine more cases where Meta later reversed its original decision. We believe that these have a positive impact on users and can help Meta learn crucial lessons for the future.
As such, our Case Selection Committee has begun to select some of these cases to review as summary decisions. Our summary decisions set out why we consider the case to be significant and discuss why Meta might have made this error in the first place. Just like our standard decisions, summary decisions are binding on Meta. They are drafted and voted on by the Case Selection Committee, rather than the full Board, and do not consider public comments. Additional details about our decision types, including summary decisions, can be found in our bylaws.
Today, we are publishing four summary decisions. You can read summaries of the four decisions below:
Responding to Antisemitism (2023-024-IG-UA)
Read the full summary decision here.
This case concerns Meta’s original decision to remove an Instagram post of a video that condemned remarks by music artist Ye (the American rapper formerly known as Kanye West) praising Hitler and denying the Holocaust. After the Board brought the appeal to Meta’s attention, the company reversed its original decision and restored the post.
Video Discussing Corruption of Law Enforcement in Indonesia (2023-025-FB-UA)
Read the full summary decision here.
This case concerns Meta’s original decision to remove a Facebook post that included a video discussing corruption among police officers in Indonesia. The case highlights an inconsistency in how Meta applies its Violence and Incitement policy to political metaphorical statements, which could be a significant deterrent to open online expression about governments. After the Board brought the appeal to Meta’s attention, the company reversed its earlier decision and restored the post.
Hotel in Ethiopia (2023-026-FB-UA)
Read the full summary decision here.
This case concerns Meta’s original decision to leave up a Facebook post that called for a hotel in Ethiopia’s Amhara region to be burned down. This case highlights Meta’s error in enforcing its policy against a call for violence in a country experiencing armed conflict and civil unrest. After the Board brought the appeal to Meta’s attention, the company reversed its original decision and removed the post.
Lebanese Activist (2023-027-IG-UA)
Read the full summary decision here.
This case concerns Meta’s original decision to remove an Instagram post of an interview where an activist discusses Hassan Nasrallah, the Secretary General of Hezbollah. This case highlights the over-enforcement of Meta’s Dangerous Organizations and Individuals policy. This can have a negative impact on users’ ability to share political commentary and news reporting, resulting in an infringement of users’ freedom of expression. After the Board brought the appeal to Meta’s attention, the company reversed its original decision and restored the post.
What’s Next
In the coming months, we will publish summary decisions on a regular basis. We will also continue to publish standard decisions, which follow the longer format that we have traditionally used, as well as our first expedited decisions. Whenever we publish a new decision, we will highlight this on the News tab of our website and issue the full decision on the Decisions tab.
