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30/9/22, 14:55 action to this effect. Oversight Board | Independent Judgment. Transparency. Legitimacy. The Board recommends that Facebook: Inform users when automated enforcement is used to moderate their content, ensure that users can appeal automated decisions to a human being in certain cases, and improve automated detection of images with text-overlay so that posts raising awareness of breast cancer symptoms are not wrongly flagged for review. Facebook should also improve its transparency reporting on its use of automated enforcement. Revise Instagram’s Community Guidelines to specify that female nipples can be shown to raise breast cancer awareness and clarify that where there are inconsistencies between Instagram’s Community Guidelines and Facebook’s Community Standards, the latter take precedence. *Case summaries provide an overview of the case and do not have precedential value. Full Case Decision 1. Decision Summary The Oversight Board has overturned Facebook’s original decision to take down the content, noting that Facebook restored the post after the Board decided to hear this case. Facebook’s decision to reinstate the content does not exclude the Board’s authority to hear the case. The Board found that the content was allowed under a policy exception for “breast cancer awareness” in Facebook’s Community Standard on Adult Nudity and Sexual Activity. The Board has issued a policy advisory statement on the relationship between content policies on Instagram and Facebook, as well as on the use of automation in content moderation and the transparency of these practices. 2. Case Description https://www.oversightboard.com/decision/IG-7THR3SI1 3/16

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Oversight Board Case of Breast Cancer Symptoms and Nudity

Case Law

Country

Brazil

Country Location

Latitude: -9.531069703582213

Longitude: -52.923056365109474

Country Location (linked Case Law): Brazil

Decision Date: Jan 28, 2021

Case Status: Closed

Case Outcome (Disposition)

Overturned Meta’s initial decision

Keywords

Instagram Community Guidelines>Hate Speech, Bullying and Abuse

Judicial Body: Meta's Oversight Board

Court Name: Oversight Board

Case Number: 2020-004-IG-UA

Case Summary: On January 28, 2021, the Oversight Board overturned Facebook’s (now Meta) decision to remove a post on Instagram with images of visible and uncovered female nipples intended to raise awareness about breast cancer and its symptoms. Facebook removed the post through an automated machine-learning classifier, enforcing Facebook’s Community Standards on Adult Nudity and Sexual Activity. Although Facebook restored the post recognizing an enforcement error, the Board issued a decision on the matter. It argued that Facebook’s decision did not comply with its Community Standards since adult nudity is allowed for educational and medical purposes such as raising awareness about breast cancer. Likewise, the Oversight Board considered that Facebook’s original decision affected the users’ right to receive information about health-related issues and disproportionately impacted women, raising discrimination concerns.

*The Oversight Board is a separate entity from Meta and will provide its independent judgment on both individual cases and questions of policy. Both the Board and its administration are funded by an independent trust. The Board has the authority to decide whether Facebook and Instagram should allow or remove content. These decisions are binding, unless implementing them could violate the law. The Board can also choose to issue recommendations on the company’s content policies.

Case Significance: By overturning Facebook’s decision to remove content intended to raise awareness about breast cancer, the Oversight Board widens the scope of freedom of expression, while protecting access to information, the right to health, and women’s rights to nondiscrimination on an issue of the utmost relevance regarding public health. The Board’s decision also strengthens freedom of expression by recommending that Facebook implement safeguards, such as human review, on automated content moderation. By urging the company to be more transparent about the efficacy of its automated content removal, the Board also fosters a better environment for freedom of expression online.

The decision establishes a binding or persuasive precedent within its jurisdiction.

According to Article 2 of the Oversight Board Charter, “For each decision, any prior board decisions will have precedential value and should be viewed as highly persuasive when the facts, applicable policies, or other factors are substantially similar.” In addition, Article 4 of the Oversight Board Charter establishes, “The board’s resolution of each case will be binding and Facebook (now Meta) will implement it promptly, unless implementation of a resolution could violate the law. In instances where Facebook identifies that identical content with parallel context – which the board has already decided upon – remains on Facebook (now Meta), it will take action by analyzing whether it is technically and operationally feasible to apply the board’s decision to that content as well. When a decision includes policy guidance or a policy advisory opinion, Facebook (now Meta) will take further action by analyzing the operational procedures required to implement the guidance, considering it in the formal policy development process of Facebook (now Meta), and transparently communicating about actions taken as a result.”

Related Caselaw (self)

Source URL: Columbia Global Freedom of Expression

Collection

Columbia

Date Updated: Nov 14, 2024

Primary Documents

Decision (in English).pdf
English
Download View

CYRILLA: Global Digital Rights Law

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Oversight Board Case of Breast Cancer Symptoms and Nudity

Primary Documents

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