13/3/24, 13:44 eta ecog Oversight Board | Independent Judgment. Transparency. Legitimacy. ed t e g ap c atu e o t s deo a d t e s s t at p so e s o a ay ace when they are identified on social media. In response to the Board’s questions, Meta acknowledged that family members and friends may be the target of ostracism, suspicion, or even violence when prisoners of war are identified or exposed. Meta also noted that this kind of imagery can have a variety of effects on civilians and people in the military, including reinforcing antagonism towards the other side and intensifying prejudice. Meta noted that a prisoner of war who is recorded criticizing their own nation or their military’s conduct may be at higher risk of ostracism and reprisal upon their return home than prisoners who are shown being mistreated by the enemy. In the context of this conflict, Meta did not have evidence that videos of this kind were producing these negative impacts but did see evidence that international organizations were using such videos to increase pressure on Azerbaijan to end mistreatment of prisoners of war. Given the potential public interest value of this content in raising awareness and serving as evidence of possible war crimes, Meta concluded that, given its overall newsworthiness, removing this content would not be a proportionate action. Meta also added that content that identifies witnesses, informants, hostages, or other detained people may be removed under the Coordinating Harm and Promoting Crime Community Standard, if public knowledge of the detention may increase risks to their safety. Content identifying or outing individuals may also be removed under the Privacy Violations policy when personally identifiable information is shared on Meta platforms. Finally, the Violent and Graphic Content policy would have applied even if the victims were not prisoners of war, as under that policy, Meta considers both the dignity and safety of the victims of violence and the fact that people may not want to see this content. In response to the Board’s questions, Meta also provided examples of how it applies the newsworthiness allowance to content identifying prisoners of war more broadly. For example, Meta informed the Board that it generally removes content that reveals the identity of prisoners of war in Ethiopia but makes a case-by-case newsworthy determination for some content. Factors considered in applying the newsworthiness allowance in previous cases include whether the content (i) reports on the capture of senior combatants, such as high-ranking officers or leaders of armed groups; (ii) reveals the identity of a prisoner when it is potentially in their interest to do so (e.g. when they have been reported missing); or (iii) raises awareness about potential human rights abuses. Meta also stated it had granted newsworthiness allowances to “leave some content up that shows Russian [prisoners of war] in Ukraine.” https://www.oversightboard.com/decision/FB-YLRV35WD/ 13/26