Meta’s Oversight Board wants Facebook to be more transparent about VIP accounts

The Wall Street Journal revealed that Facebook had a moderation system. While normal users were subject to the platforms stated rules, they were secretly flagged into a program called "cross check."

The list included everyone from the Brazilian soccer star to the company's founder. The WSJ says that the system was designed to minimize instances in which Facebook might moderate content from a celebrity in the normal course of moderation.

According to the WSJ, if Facebook's systems conclude that one of those accounts might have broken its rules, they don't remove the content immediately. The complaint is routed into a separate system staffed by better-trained, full-time employees.

The Oversight Board, Meta's semi-independent policy-making council, was asked to review the system by the end of the month after Cross-check came to light. The board will be asked for guidance on the criteria we use to determine what is prioritized for a secondary review, as well as how we manage the program.

Significant improvements to the cross-check program are called for by the Oversight Board.

For years, cross-check allowed content from a select group of politicians, business partners, celebrities, and others to remain on Facebook andInstagram for several days when it would have otherwise been removed quickly, according to the group.

A few steps that would make a previously secret program much more transparent were among the recommendations made by the Oversight Board. To allow people who might meet the requirements to apply for the special account status, the board called on the company to publish "clear criteria" describing what accounts are eligible for cross check's extra review process.

The board requested that Meta prioritize users who are likely to produce expression that is important for human rights, like journalists and civil rights groups in the cross-check system. The board said that a user's celebrity or follower count shouldn't be the sole criterion for receiving additional protection. Users who post violating content frequently should not benefit from special protection.

The full set of recommendations, which is published on the Oversight Board's blogs, calls on Meta to dramatically realign its content priorities for high profile users. How much of this the company will actually implement remains to be seen, but this whole process certainly looks like a well-oiled machine.

The Oversight Board wants Facebook to explain its controversial rules for VIPs