On Friday 8 May Facebook announced 20 members of its Oversight Board – a new, independent mechanism to oversee content moderation disputes on Facebook and Instagram. The Board will have the power to:
- Review content referred to it by Facebook or by users who disagree with a content decision.
- Assess if Facebook’s rules were correctly applied and whether they align with human rights norms.
- Make final and binding decisions on whether specific content should be allowed or removed from the platforms.
Content moderation is a complicated issue. It exists at the nexus of many different things: hate speech and free speech, content some find humorous but may be harmful to others, copyright exceptions and copyright protection.
One of the new Board members is Professor Nicolas Suzor of Queensland University of Technology School of Law and the Digital Media Research Centre. He joins an esteemed group including a former prime minister, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, journalists, constitutional law experts, human rights campaigners and more.
If you joined us at this year’s ADA Copyright Forum you will remember Prof Suzor spoke about regulating the power of digital platforms. According to Prof Suzor we need “a way to ensure that we have fair, accountable and participatory means to make and enforce the rules that impact upon our everyday lives and our fundamental rights”.
The ADA congratulates Prof Suzor, and his fellow Board members, on their appointment.