The Oversight Board says Facebook has ‘lost’ an important rule for three years

Facebook “lost” an important point for three years and only became aware of the governing body when it began looking into the matter, according to from the board. In its decision, the committee questioned Facebook’s internal rules and said the company should be transparent if some key points are “missing”.

The article is based on an Instagram post by Abdullah Öcalan, in which the post “encourages readers to discuss alancalan’s imprisonment and the brutality he has locked up in private.” (According to the board, Öcalan is a founding member of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which Facebook has described as a “dangerous organization.”)

Facebook was recently removed, as Facebook users are not allowed to praise or show support to dangerous organizations or individuals. However, Facebook also had “internal instructions” – which were made a bit of a result of Öcalan’s arrest negotiations – which “allows for confidential discussions in prisons for people known to be dangerous.” But the rule did not apply, even after the applicant first applied. Facebook told the committee that it had “unknowingly moved” the section as it moves to a new monitoring system in 2018.

Although Facebook had already acknowledged the error and reinstated the operation, the committee said it was “concerned” with the way the case was handled, and that the “most important point” was cracked for three years.

“The Board is concerned that Facebook has lost a clear focus on priorities for three years,” the group wrote. “The idea of ​​Facebook’s failure to remove what appears to be a ‘support’ for elected officials, while maintaining certain public privacy requirements, allowed the error to remain anonymous for a long time.

The commission has also criticized Facebook for not making it clear how many users have been affected by the same problem. Facebook told the committee that it was not “possible” to know how many had been removed incorrectly. “Facebook’s actions in this regard show that the company is failing to respect its rights, which is contrary to the principles of the Corporate Human Rights Policy,” the agency said.

This article shows how Facebook’s complex rules are shaped by guidelines that readers may not be able to see, and how the Oversight Board repeatedly criticized the company for making all of its information available to users.

Despite only a handful of cases so far, the Oversight Board has repeatedly criticized Facebook for not following through. . “They’re not just making new unwritten laws if they agree to them,” co-chair Helle Thorning-Schmidt told reporters after Facebook said it was wrong to suspend “Donald Trump’s” permanent suspension. The council has also criticized Facebook for not alerting users to its key features, such as its own Pushed the company to report on policy, and how it occurs in speech and other celebrities.

Facebook has 30 days to respond to the Oversight Board on the matter, combining a number of suggestions to re-evaluate its “Dangerous People and Organizations” principles and to review its public reports.