Meta's Oversight Board Calls For Restructuring Of Content Moderation For Celebrities Like Donald Trump

A report published by Meta Platforms, Inc's META oversight board urged the social media giant to make "significant" changes to its internal system for reviewing content from politicians, celebrities, and business partners.

Meta's partiality with high-profile users, like former U.S. President Donald Trump, left harmful content online, serving business interests at the expense of its human rights obligations, the Financial Times reported.

Meta's policy chief and former U.K. deputy prime minister Sir Nick Clegg coordinated the board.

After whistleblower Frances Haugen revealed its presence, the board jumped into action, flagging concerns over Meta being partial to elite figures.

Clegg also has until January 7 to decide whether to allow Trump back onto the platform. 

After a protracted investigation, the board demanded that Meta more closely audit its "cross-check" list and be more transparent about its review procedures.

The report is a landmark probe into moderation issues at Meta, the independent body comprising 20 journalists, academics, and politicians. Meta has already begun to revamp the system.

Reports estimated 5.8 million users on the list by 2020. Meta has previously said there were 666,000 as of October 2021.

The system meant that content posted by celebrities like Trump and Elizabeth Warren would remain on platforms pending human moderator review.

It would take five days on average for this human review to take place, with the content left on the platform during this time, and in one case, up to seven months, the report found.

The board also accused Meta of giving "insufficient" responses to the investigation, sometimes taking months to respond.

The board referenced how Brazilian footballer Neymar posted inappropriate imagery to his Facebook and Instagram accounts, which attracted over 50 million viewership before it was removed.

The report follows previous public tensions between the board and Meta after the board brought allegations in September 2021 of withholding information on the system.

Price Action: META shares traded lower by 5.84% at $115.28 on the last check Tuesday.