A look at the making of Facebook's Oversight Board, its members, Zuckerberg's rationale for its existence, and criticisms of the endeavor

The company has created a board that can overrule even Mark Zuckerberg. Soon, it will decide whether to allow Trump back on Facebook.

New Yorker 2021-02-12 Kate Klonick

Context & Ripple Effects

Facebook framed the board as a body whose content rulings would bind the company even over its own objections, following its earlier account of how members would be selected and decisions made binding. But proposed bylaws also drew criticism for leaving Facebook in control, creating a built-in tension between independent review and company-designed governance.

The board's pending Trump case has already been opened to public comment on whether Facebook's ban met expression and human-rights standards, turning the review process for Trump's ban into its first major test of authority and legitimacy.

First-order effects

Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg must route the Trump reinstatement decision through a body designed to overrule the company, rather than treat it solely as an executive content-policy call.
Criticism of the board's design focuses attention on whether Facebook's governance structure is sufficiently independent to validate its binding rulings.

Second-order effects

The Trump proceeding makes the board's reasoning and process a reference point for Facebook's future high-profile content decisions, raising the cost of appearing to sidestep its own review mechanism.
Public-comment participation gives outside speech and rights advocates a formal channel into a Facebook decision, while leaving the debate over the company's control of the board unresolved.

Third-order effects

If Facebook continues to delegate contested moderation cases to a nominally independent body, platform governance shifts toward procedural review systems that can constrain founders while still being created and funded by the platforms they review.

The trend: Major platforms are responding to contentious moderation decisions by building quasi-independent review institutions, with their credibility determined by both binding authority and operational independence.

Discussion

@benyt Ben Smith on x
Definitive @Klonick piece on the Facebook Oversight Board includes 👀👀 https://www.newyorker.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@michaelluo Michael Luo on x
Despite the pressure from Trump, Facebook did not change the composition of the board. (Trump declined to comment.)
@michaelluo Michael Luo on x
“...Trump personally called Zuckerberg to say that he was unhappy with the makeup of the board. He was especially angry about the selection of Pamela Karlan, a Stanford Law professor who had testified against him during his first impeachment.”
@michaelluo Michael Luo on x
EXCLUSIVE: @klonick spent 18 months reporting on the making of Facebook's Oversight Board. Its decisions are binding, but its power is quite circumscribed in a lot of ways. Soon after it started hearing cases, it got the biggest one of all: Trump. https://www.newyorker.com/...
@tayhatmaker Taylor Hatmaker on x
Facebook Oversight Board Co-Chair Helle Thorning-Schmidt says “Everyone who criticizes this endeavor also needs to come up with an alternative.” She argues the board doesn't have anonymity even though the individual members involved in the Trump decision won't be known
@cendemtech @cendemtech on x
JUST SUBMITTED: @CenDemTech has submitted comments to the Facebook @OversightBoard in response to case 2021-001-FB-FBR, regarding the suspension of Donald Trump's account. Direct link: https://cdt.org/... https://twitter.com/...
@unc_citap Unc Citap on x
Today, @unc_citap submitted our public comment to @OversightBoard on Facebook's indefinite ban of Trump's account. Read it here: https://citap.unc.edu/...
@tayhatmaker Taylor Hatmaker on x
Facebook Oversight Board Co-Chair Helle Thorning-Schmidt: “I'm not here to defend Facebook... I don't care about their business model — I don't really care about Facebook.”
@liedetectorsorg Lie Detectors on x
“Those comments may capture broader aspirations for Facebook's Oversight Board, which refers to itself only as the “Oversight Board” without an explicit reference to Facebook on its website” - @tayhatmaker https://techcrunch.com/...
@jameeljaffer Jameel Jaffer on x
Largely agree with this from @rickhasen @davidakaye @JNelsonLDF @alexstamos et al about Facebook's decision to deplatform Trump. Not entirely convinced the FOB should answer this Q on Facebook's terms, though. Stay tuned for @knightcolumbia submission. https://www.politico.com/..…
@rasmus_kleis Rasmus Kleis Nielsen on x
Very on-brand for a Danish Social Democrat 😀 https://twitter.com/...
@jamisonfoser Jamison Foser on x
My alternative is that we should break up Facebook and the remaining pieces should prioritize Not Destroying The World over increasing Mark Zuckerberg's wealth and power. https://twitter.com/...
@lam_barrett Lindsey Barrett on x
the problem is that the company funding the oversight board doesn't seem inclined to smash itself with a large hammer, throw the smashed pieces in a pit, and light the pit on fire https://twitter.com/...
@sivavaid Dr. Siva Vaidhyanathan on x
NEEDS to? An alternative to what? Toward what end? The board does not solve an actual problem in the world — by design. And Facebook will still be Facebook — by design. https://twitter.com/...
@umairh @umairh on x
This is your literal job https://twitter.com/...
@rickhasen Rick Hasen on x
Our letter about Facebook deplatforming Trump got more coverage @Politico here, noting 9,000 comments have been submitted so far on the question: https://www.politico.com/...
@annemariebridy Annemarie Bridy on x
One ring to rule them all? No, thanks. https://techcrunch.com/...
@sivavaid @sivavaid on x
How rich does one have to be to not care about a business paying them more than $100,000 per year? https://twitter.com/...
@normative Julian Sanchez on x
This is the reflexive response to criticism that irritates me most. I have no idea how to cure cancer. I'm pretty sure that applying leeches to the patient will do no good and probably some harm. “Well if YOU can't cure cancer, I'm sticking with leeches” is a dumb rejoinder. http…
@mattyglesias Matthew Yglesias on x
Between her and Nick Clegg, Mark Zuckerberg has a real soft spot for failed austerity politicians from the early part of last decade. https://twitter.com/...
@nicktagliaferro @nicktagliaferro on x
okay my alternative is for facebook to cease to exist https://twitter.com/...
@ibogost Ian Bogost on x
Roses are red Violets are blue The Facebook Oversight Board is just a complicated PR apparatus for the Facebook corporation https://twitter.com/...
@daphnehk Daphne Keller on x
I suppose we should be grateful that Facebook Oversight Board members are stating their ambitions publicly, instead of just quietly leveraging their considerable networks to suggest that policy makers could solve a lot of problems by giving the FBOB a role for other platforms.
@daphnehk Daphne Keller on x
I wonder what percent of the people who basically support the Facebook Oversight Board would drop that support over a move like this? https://twitter.com/...
@brooklynmarie Brooke Binkowski on x
I've offered several alternatives to @Facebook over the years, and you see how that went for me https://twitter.com/...
@oneunderscore__ Ben Collins on x
Well, you should. https://twitter.com/...
@mattzeitlin Matthew Zeitlin on x
wait what, the former prime minister of denmark is in charge of the facebook court https://twitter.com/...
@slpng_giants @slpng_giants on x
We already have @HelleThorning_S: Real regulation and meaningful independent oversight where the board members aren't paid by @facebook to make decisions about Facebook. https://twitter.com/...
@evelyndouek Evelyn Douek on x
I'm not sure I agree w this. It's possible to criticize an initiative as a step backwards from the status quo w/o having an alternative proposal. Still, coming out swinging it seems! https://twitter.com/...
@guyro Guy Rosen on x
Today we released our Q4 2020 Community Standards Enforcement report. Our goal is to lead the industry in transparency about this work, and we'll continue to share more as part of this effort. https://about.fb.com/... (1/5)
@atef @atef on x
#AI gets better every day. Here's what that means for stopping #HateSpeech. #Facebook https://about.fb.com/...
@fbnewsroom @fbnewsroom on x
AI gets better every day. Here's what that means for stopping hate speech. https://about.fb.com/...
@mosseri Adam Mosseri on x
Today we're sharing our latest Community Standards Enforcement Report, a report we now publish quarterly to track our progress in keeping people safe on Facebook and Instagram. More info in thread below 👇🏼 https://twitter.com/...
@kingjeff2 Jeff King on x
The work is never done but it's the right work to do. So proud of all of our teams working together on this. https://twitter.com/...
@evelyndouek Evelyn Douek on x
This just clearly shows that the take-down/leave-up binary of content moderation is missing the important, far more consequential decisions around algorithmic ranking https://about.fb.com/... https://twitter.com/...

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