Meta’s Board of Control expands its remit to include threads. The group announced that Threads users will now be able to appeal Meta’s content moderation decisions, giving the independent group the ability to influence policies for Meta’s newest implementation.
This is a notable expansion for the Board of Control, which until now dealt with content moderation issues related to Facebook and Instagram posts. “Having early independent accountability is vital for a new application like Threads,” said Helle Thorning-Schmidt, co-chair of the board.
According to the Board of Control, user requests on Threads will work the same as on Instagram and Facebook. Users will be able to request a Review Board review after “exhausting” Meta’s internal process. Under the rules established when the board was created, Meta must implement the board’s decisions on specific tasks, but is not obligated to follow its policy recommendations.
Adding Threads’ content moderation to the board’s purview underscores the growing influence of the Twitter-like app, which launched last summer. Threads has already reached 130 million users and Mark Zuckerberg may reach one billion users one day.
Officially, Threads has the same rules as Instagram. But Meta has already faced some pushback from users over its content recommendation policies. Topics currently Search terms related to COVID-19 and other “potentially sensitive” topics. The company also raised some eyebrows last week when it said it would no longer recommend accounts that post too much unless users choose to opt-in to such offers.
Regardless of whether the board considers these options, it will likely be some time before Threads users see any changes as a result of the board’s recommendations. The Review Board only accepts a small percentage of user requests, and it can take weeks or months for the group to make a decision, and even more months for Meta to change any of its rules as a result of the guidelines. (Board in some cases process.)
