3/10/22, 12:48
Oversight Board | Independent Judgment. Transparency. Legitimacy.
To read the full decision in Northern Kurdish click here.
Ji bo hûn ev biryar bi Kurdiya Bakur bixwînin, li vir bitikînin.
Case summary
The Oversight Board has overturned Facebook’s original decision to remove an Instagram
post encouraging people to discuss the solitary confinement of Abdullah Öcalan, a founding
member of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). After the user appealed and the Board
selected the case for review, Facebook concluded that the content was removed in error and
restored it. The Board is concerned that Facebook misplaced an internal policy exception for
three years and that this may have led to many other posts being wrongly removed.
About the case
This case relates to Abdullah Öcalan, a founding member of the PKK. This group has used
violence in seeking to achieve its aim of establishing an independent Kurdish state. Both the
PKK and Öcalan are designated as dangerous entities under Facebook’s Dangerous
Individuals and Organizations policy.
On January 25, 2021, an Instagram user in the United States posted a picture of Öcalan which
included the words “y’all ready for this conversation” in English. In a caption, the user wrote
that it was time to talk about ending Öcalan’s isolation in prison on Imrali island in Turkey. The
user encouraged readers to engage in conversation about Öcalan’s imprisonment and the
inhumane nature of solitary confinement.
After being assessed by a moderator, the post was removed on February 12 under Facebook’s
rules on Dangerous Individuals and Organizations as a call to action to support Öcalan and
the PKK. When the user appealed this decision, they were told their appeal could not be
reviewed because of a temporary reduction in Facebook’s review capacity due to COVID-19.
However, a second moderator did carry out a review of the content and found that it violated
the same policy. The user then appealed to the Oversight Board.
After the Board selected this case and assigned it to panel, Facebook found that a piece of
https://www.oversightboard.com/decision/IG-I9DP23IB/
2/21