New Case to Assess How Meta Moderates Content in African Countries Criminalizing Same-Sex Relationships
July 16, 2024
Today, the Board is announcing a new case for consideration. As part of this, we invite people and organizations to submit public comments by using the button below.
Case Selection
As we cannot hear every appeal, the Board prioritizes cases that have the potential to affect lots of users around the world, are of critical importance to public discourse or raise important questions about Meta’s policies.
The case that we are announcing today is:
Homophobic Violence in West Africa
2024-041-FB-UA
User appeal to remove content from Facebook
Submit a public comment using the button below
To read this announcement in Igbo, click here.
Iji gụọ ọkwa a n'asụsụ Igbo, pịa ebe a.
In December 2023, a Facebook user posted a video in Igbo showing two men who appear to have been beaten. Both men are sitting on the ground, near to a pole and a rope, suggesting they may have been tied up, and are heavily bleeding. There are several other people around, asking the men on the ground questions. The person recording the video asks about the violence and the reasons behind it. One of the men shares his name and says he was beaten because he was having sex with another man. They are both visibly frightened and, at one point, one of the men is kicked by one of the people standing around. The user who posted this video added a caption in English saying that both men were caught having sex and are married. The user’s account is located in a country in which same-sex relationships are criminalized.
The content was viewed about 3.6 million times, received about 9,000 reactions and 8,000 comments, and was shared about 5,000 times. After it was posted, 92 users reported the content 112 times between December 2023 and February 2024, the majority under Meta’s Violence and Incitement and Hate Speech policies. Several reports were reviewed by human moderators who decided the content did not violate any of the Community Standards and therefore should remain on the platform. One of the users appealed Meta’s decision to keep the content up. Following another human review, Meta again decided the content did not violate any of its rules. However, after the Board brought the case to Meta’s attention, the company reviewed the post under its Coordinating Harm and Promoting Crime policy, removing it from Facebook. While this type of violation can result in a standard strike against the user who posted the content, Meta did not apply it in this case because the content was posted more than 90 days before any enforcement action was taken. Meta’s policy states it does not apply standard strikes to accounts of users whose content violations are older than 90 days.
The Board selected this case to assess Meta’s enforcement of content, under the Coordinating Harm and Promoting Crime policy, which exposes the identity of at-risk people in a region where LGBTQIA+ people are particularly vulnerable to harm. The Board is particularly interested in Meta’s enforcement mechanisms in countries that have criminalized same-sex relationships. This case falls within the Board’s strategic priorities of Hate Speech Against Marginalized Groups and Gender.
The Board would appreciate public comments that address:
- Violence against LGBTQIA+ people in West Africa by state and non-state actors, and risks associated with the exposure of people’s sexual orientation and/or gender identity.
- The impact of the criminalization of same-sex relationships on LGBTQIA+ people, their civic engagement and freedom of expression.
- The impact of this criminalization and other local laws in West Africa on the work conducted by human rights organizations, advocacy groups and journalists in this space.
- The importance of Meta’s platforms, and social media more broadly, to communication, mobilization and awareness-raising among LGBTQIA+ people in West Africa.
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 this case.
Public Comments
If you or your organization feel you can contribute valuable perspectives that can help with reaching a decision on the case 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 Tuesday 30 July.
What’s Next
Over the next few weeks, Board Members will be deliberating this case. Once they have reached their decision, we will post it on the Decisions page.
