Today the impact of social media on people’s lives is hard to grasp. This can often be positive. As the world lives through a global health crisis, social media has become a lifeline for helping people and communities to stay connected become a lifeline for helping people and communities to stay connected.

In January 2020 Facebook published their proposed bylaws, which once ratified by our members, will provide the rules for operations and procedures. In addition, Thomas Hughes was announced as the Director of the Oversight Board Administration and will be responsible for supporting members and leading the staff.

In December 2019 Facebook shared an update on the establishment of the Oversight Board trust that holds contracts with our board members and employs the administrative staff, and announced Facebook’s $130m commitment to funding our first six years of operation.

In September 2019 Facebook published the charter that defines our mandate and our relationship to Facebook. This document, informed by insight and feedback gathered during global consultation, sets out parameters for key aspects of our operations, like size, scope and power, membership and governance, and decision-making authority.

Facebook published details on the process for appointing members to the board, from sourcing and vetting candidates to interviews, diversity considerations, selection, appointment and orientation. A recommendations portal is open for the ongoing collection of potential board members.

In June 2019 Facebook published the findings of their global consultation process in a report which summarized all of the feedback and recommendations gathered through events held globally.

In April 2019 Facebook opened a public consultation to allow people and organizations who were not able to attend regional workshops to provide their thoughts on how the board should be designed.

In January 2019 Facebook published a draft charter for the Oversight Board which set out a series of key questions, from how many members should sit on the board to how cases should be selected. This charter was used to run a global consultation to gather views and opinions from experts and organizations working on a range of issues such as free expression, human rights and democracy around the world.