30/9/22, 14:55
Oversight Board | Independent Judgment. Transparency. Legitimacy.
rights of the child to life and development (Article 6, CRC), which are threatened in cases
of sexual exploitation (CRC/C/GC/13, para. 62).
c. Necessity and proportionality
Any restrictions on freedom of expression “must be appropriate to achieve their
protective function; they must be the least intrusive instrument amongst those which
might achieve their protective function; they must be proportionate to the interest to be
protected” (General Comment 34, para. 34).
The Board finds that removing information that serves a public interest without cause
cannot be proportionate.
The Board is concerned that the content was wrongfully removed by an automated
enforcement system and potentially without human review or appeal. This reflects the
limitations of automated technologies to understand context and grasp the complexity of
human communication for content moderation (UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of
expression, A/73/348, para. 15). In this case, these technologies failed to recognize the
words “Breast Cancer” that appear at the top left of the image in Portuguese. The Board
accepts automated technologies are essential to the detection of potentially violating
content. However, enforcement which relies solely on automation, in particular when
using technologies that have a limited ability to understand context, leads to overenforcement that disproportionately interferes with user expression.
The Board recognizes that automated enforcement may be needed to swiftly remove
non-consensual intimate images and child abuse images, in order to avoid immediate
and irreparable harm. However, when content is removed to safeguard against these
harms, the action should be premised on the applicable policies on sexual exploitation,
and users notified that their content was removed for these purposes. Regardless,
automated removals should be subject to both an internal audit procedure explained
under section 9.2 (I) and appeal to human review should be offered (A/73/348, para. 70),
allowing enforcement mistakes to be repaired.
Automated content moderation without necessary safeguards is not a proportionate way
for Facebook to address violating forms of adult nudity.
d Equality and non-discrimination
https://www.oversightboard.com/decision/IG-7THR3SI1
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