Facebook's oversight board is looking into claims that the social media site allowed high-profile users break its rules. The company has also been accused of withholding information.
The board, which is a "Supreme Court-style" body that oversees its content moderation processes and was established Tuesday, said it was investigating the extent to which Facebook has been forthcoming in its responses to previous inquiries about crosscheck, an internal system that reviews content from celebrities, politicians, and journalists, to ensure that posts are not misplaced.
The Wall Street Journal published an expose last week that showed the system had grown to include millions of users. It was also sometimes used to protect users from enforcement even when they violated Facebook's rules. This is known as whitelisting.
The Journal reported that in June, the company informed the board that the system was only used to make a few decisions.
The oversight board stated Tuesday that these disclosures have brought renewed attention to the inconsistent manner in which the company makes decisions. We are also exploring how the board could further examine policy issues related to crosscheck. This may lead to additional recommendations.
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Facebook's oversight board was established and funded by the company to rule on the fairness and policy of its content moderation decisions. It faces increased regulation from legislators.
However, some users have complained that it lacks the power to force Facebook to hand over the relevant information.
The board stated that it had been asking questions regarding cross-check for some time but that Facebook had not provided much of the information requested. It stated that it had reached out Facebook to ask for more information about the previously shared information and was expecting a briefing within the next few days.
Facebook declined to comment.
This news comes after a week of bruising for Facebook. The Journal published stories based upon internal documents leaked to them by a whistleblower. Many of these documents suggested that Facebook routinely conducted internal research and then buried it if they found anything negative.
To discuss some of these issues, lawmakers, including those on the Senate commerce subcommittee for consumer protection, have requested hearings with tech executives.
Nick Clegg (Facebook's vice-president for global affairs), reacted to the newspaper over the weekend with a blog post entitled What the Wall Street Journal Got Wrong. He accused the newspaper of mischaracterizing the company and giving false motives to Facebook's leadership and employees.
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