Two weeks before the US presidential election, the Oversight Board says it has “serious concerns” about Meta’s content moderation systems “in the context of an election” and that the company risks “excessive deletion of political speech” when it over-enforces its rules. The warning came as the board debated a case involving a satirical photo of Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
Meta initially deleted a post shared on Facebook in August that showed an edited version of the movie poster Stupid and Stupid. The original 1994 movie poster shows the two main characters grabbing each other’s breasts through their shirts. In the modified version, the faces of the actors were replaced by Harris and Waltz.
According to the review board, Meta cited violence and harassment rules, which include a provision that prohibits “degrading sexual photoshop or drawings.” The social network restored the post after drawing the attention of the Supervisory Board, and the company admitted that the satirical image did not violate its rules because it did not depict sexual activity.
Despite Meta’s pushback, the board says the case suggests larger problems with how Meta handles posts about election-related content. “This article is nothing more than the usual satirical portrayal of prominent politicians and is immediately recognizable as such,” the board wrote. “However, the company’s failure to recognize the nature of this post and act accordingly raises serious concerns about Meta’s existing systems and resources to effectively determine content in such election contexts.”
It’s an unusually direct criticism of the Oversight Board, which laid out its analysis of the case in a summary judgment that came without the typical laundry list of recommendations for the group’s social media company. The board had previously pushed Meta its rules regarding satirical content. The latest incident highlights another issue that many of the company’s users have also complained about: its over-enforcement of rules.
“However, in this case, the Board highlights the excessive application of Meta’s Bullying and Harassment policy regarding satire and political speech in the form of non-sexually derogatory depictions of political figures,” it said. “It also points to the dangers of overusing policies of violence and harassment, particularly in an electoral context, as it can lead to excessive suppression of political speech and weaken the ability to criticize government officials and political candidates. in a sarcastic way.”
