4/10/22, 10:31 Oversight Board | Independent Judgment. Transparency. Legitimacy. Given the importance of reclaiming derogatory terms for LGBTQIA+ people in countering discrimination, the Board expects Meta to be particularly sensitive to the possibility of wrongful removal of the content in this case and similar content on Facebook and Instagram. As the Board noted in the "Wampum Belt" decision ( 2021-012-FB-UA) regarding artistic expression from Indigenous persons, it is not sufficient to evaluate the performance of Meta’s enforcement of Facebook’s Hate Speech policy as a whole – effects on particular marginalized groups must be taken into account. Under the UNGPs, "business enterprises should pay special attention to any particular human rights impacts on individuals from groups or populations that may be at heightened risk of vulnerability or marginalization" (UNGPs, Principles 18 and 20). For LGBTQIA+ people in countries which penalize their expression, social media is often one of the only means through which they can still express themselves freely. This is especially the case for Instagram, where the Community Guidelines permit users to not use their real name. The Board notes the same freedoms are not provided to Facebook users in the Community Standards. It would be important for Meta to demonstrate that it has undertaken human rights due diligence to ensure its systems are operating fairly and are not contributing to discrimination (UNGPs, Principle 17). The Board notes that Meta routinely evaluates the accuracy of its enforcement systems in dealing with hate speech ("Wampum Belt" decision). However these assessments are not broken down into evaluations of accuracy that specifically measure Meta’s ability to distinguish impermissible hate speech from permitted content that attempts to reclaim derogatory terms. The errors in this case indicate that Meta’s guidance to moderators assessing references to derogatory terms may be insufficient. The Board is concerned that reviewers may not have sufficient resources in terms of capacity or training to prevent the kind of mistake seen in this case, especially in respect of content permitted under policy exceptions. In this case, Meta informed the Board that the Known Questions and Internal Implementation Standards are available in English only to “ensure standardized global enforcement” of its policies, and that “all of its content moderators are fluent in English.” In the "Myanmar bot" decision ( 2021-007-FB-UA), the Board recommended that Meta should ensure its Internal Implementation Standards are available in the language in which content moderators review content. Meta took no further action on this recommendation, giving a similar response that its content moderators were fluent in English. The Board observes that providing reviewers with guidance in English on how to moderate content in non-English languages is innately challenging. The Internal Implementation Standards and Known Questions are often based in US-English language structures that may not apply in other languages, such as Arabic. In the "Wampum Belt" decision ( 2021-012-FB-UA, Recommendation no. 3), the Board recommended that Meta conduct accuracy assessments focused on Hate Speech policy exceptions that cover expression about human rights violations (e.g. condemnation, awareness-raising, self-referential use, empowering use), and that Meta should share results of the assessment, including how these results will inform improvements to enforcement operations and policy development. The Board issued this recommendation based on its understanding that the costs of over-removal of expression about human rights violations are particularly great. The Board notes Meta’s concerns with the recommendation in assessing feasibility, including (a) lack of specific categories in its policies on exceptions for areas such as human rights violations, and (b) lack of an easily identifiable sample of content that falls under Hate Speech exceptions. The Board believes these challenges can be overcome, as Meta could focus analysis on existing Hate Speech exceptions and prioritize identifying samples of content. The Board encourages Meta to commit to implement the recommendation in the "Wampum Belt" case ( 2021-012-FB-UA) and welcomes updates from Meta in its next quarterly report. 9. Oversight Board decision The Oversight Board overturns Meta's original decision to take down the content. 10. Policy advisory statement Enforcement 1. Meta should translate the Internal Implementation Standards and Known Questions to Modern Standard Arabic. Doing so could reduce over-enforcement in Arabic-speaking regions by helping moderators better assess when exceptions for content containing slurs are warranted. The Board notes that Meta has taken no further action in response to the recommendation in the "Myanmar Bot" case (2021-007-FB-UA) that Meta should ensure that its Internal Implementation Standards are available in the language in which content moderators review content. The Board will consider this recommendation implemented when Meta informs the Board that translation to Modern Standard Arabic is complete. https://www.oversightboard.com/decision/IG-2PJ00L4T 10/11