Meta has agreed to modify Facebook and Instagram’s cross-verification program, which exempts high-profile users from the company’s automated moderation system. In an updated blog post published on FridayThe company shared its response to the Oversight Board’s recommendations, stating that it will make the cross-verification system “more transparent through regular reporting” and modify the criteria it uses to add people to the program “to better account for the interests of human rights”. and equity.”
The Oversight Board, or the “independent body” that reviews Meta’s content moderation decisions, made a total of 32 recommendations on how Meta can improve its cross-checking program last December. Meta has chosen to fully implement 11 of those recommendations, while partially adopting 15.
Facebook and Instagram’s cross-verification program came under fire after a 2021 report from The Wall Street Journal revealed that Meta has been using it to shield popular politicians, celebrities, and athletes from its automated moderation system. according to goalthe system allows the company to apply “additional levels of human review” to posts shared by high-profile figures in an attempt to avoid removing them by mistake.
The Oversight Board criticized the program, stating that it “seems structured more directly to meet business concerns” rather than being a way of promoting the company’s “human rights commitments” as previously claimed. As part of its response, Meta agreed to implement recommendations that require immediate action to be taken on checked content “identified as potentially serious infringement.” It also pledged to reduce the backlog of the cross-verification program, an issue the Oversight Board found could cause harmful content to stay online longer than it should.
However, Meta is still “assessing the feasibility” of a rule that would allow figures to opt out of the cross-verification program and is not moving forward with five recommendations, including a suggestion to “publicly flag” some of the figures that benefit from the program. the program. He also rejected the Oversight Board’s recommendation to notify users that Meta might take longer to take action when they report a post from someone in the cross-verification program. You can read the complete list of recommendations and Meta’s response to each one here.
While the Oversight Board calls Meta’s response a “historic moment” in a thread on Twitter, is not completely satisfied with the changes that the company is willing to make. “Several aspects of the Meta response have not gone as far as we recommend to achieve a more transparent and equitable system,” the Oversight Board writes. “Meta rejected the Board’s suggestion that deserving users be able to request the protections that cross-verification offers… We will continue to react to specific responses from Meta in the coming days and weeks.”
