For years, Facebook has had a content moderation problem. It’s struggled to make unpopular decisions about content — like whether it should take down a viral doctored video of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that made it appear like she was slurring her words (it didn’t) or if it should ban prominent conspiracy theorist Alex Jones (it did). And as the 2020 presidential election gets closer, the company is attempting to do a better job than it did in 2016, when it was accused of allowing misinformation on its platform to influence the democratic process. That’s why Facebook will soon outsource some of its toughest content moderation problems to a new, much-anticipated but not yet fully formed outside group: its independent oversight board.
Facebook on Tuesday revealed new details about the board, which will evaluate how the company handles controversial posts on its platform, and which could influence its takedown policies around contentious topics like hate speech, nudity, and misinformation.
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