Why Facebook’s Oversight Appointment Is Dangerous
Following years of political and public pressure to maintain a safe and open platform for the free expression of ideas, Facebook has developed a controversial response to content review on its site: a 20-person oversight committee. . .
While Facebook had attempted to police its own content, after facing repeated inquiries by the US government and increased public scrutiny over allegedly hypocritical decisions, the company decided to separate itself from this responsibility with a content committee.
On the surface, it seems like a reasonable option, but in reality, an oversight board that is accountable to no authority other than itself becomes a contradiction. Therein lies the problem, especially when companies as influential as Facebook appoint political and religious zealots to such powerful positions.
Such is the case with Tawakkol Karman, who was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for political activism in her home country of Yemen even though her affiliations with the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood have been repeatedly exposed. Her Brotherhood connections make her a particularly divisive figure, and many in her homeland have denounced her appointment to Facebook’s committee. The Yemeni Association for Human Rights and Immigration labeled her a “warmonger and not a peace messenger.”
An analysis by Cornerstone Global, a political risk and advisory firm, found that this oversight committee is neither impartial nor unbiased as Facebook initially intended. In fact, according to Cornerstone’s findings, nine of the 20 board members are politically left, with another two being Islamist, and one is openly conservative. This is not a cross-section of the real world, but represents a dangerously small cross-section of society and cannot possibly be considered impartial. (Read more from “Why Facebook’s Oversight Appointment Is Dangerous” HERE)
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