Maina Kiai, a human rights activist and Director of Human Rights Watch’s Global Alliances and Partnerships program, has been appointed as a board member to the newly created oversight board for Facebook and Instagram content.
The Oversight Board Members are independent from the company and are funded by an independent trust that cannot be removed by Facebook based on their decisions.
The Board’s financial independence is also guaranteed by the establishment of a $130 million trust fund that is completely independent of Facebook, which will fund its operations and cannot be revoked.
“We have been talking for a long time about creating some kind of independent governance structure for making big companies more accountable on some of the most important decisions they make,” said Kiai.
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Members will serve for a maximum of three 3-year terms and case panels will be confidential and assigned at random; no member can choose the panel they sit on, and all opinions will be anonymous.
Kiai will work in collaboration with 19 other members who speak over 27 languages and have diverse professional, cultural, political, and religious backgrounds and viewpoints. Over time the Board will grow to around 40 Members.
The Oversight Board will review certain content decisions by Facebook and Instagram and make binding decisions based on respect for freedom of expression and human rights.
The board will also tackle increasingly complex and contentious debates about what types of content should and should not be permitted on Facebook and Instagram and who should decide.
Cases that potentially impact many users, are of critical importance to public discourse or raise questions about Facebook’s policies will also be prioritized by the board.
Decisions made by the Board must be implemented by Facebook, as long as they do not violate the law.
“State regulation is important, and I think we need to make progress there too, but I think the Board is an exciting experiment and I’m excited to be part of it,” Kiai added.
While no one can claim to represent everyone, Members are confident that the global composition will underpin, strengthen and guide decision-making.
The Board was designed with transparency in mind
All decisions will be made public, and Facebook must respond publicly to them. All Board decisions will be published on its website, while protecting the identity and privacy of those involved.
Additionally, the Board will issue a public annual report on its work to evaluate how the Board is fulfilling its purpose and whether Members believe Facebook is living up to its commitments.
The Oversight Board will begin hearing cases in the coming months.
Initially, users will be able to appeal to the Board in cases where Facebook has removed their content.
Over the following months, the Board will also be able to review appeals from users who want Facebook to remove content, including advertising.
The Board will not be able to make decisions on all of the many thousands of appeals from users that it anticipates receiving, but it will prioritise cases that potentially impact many users, are of critical importance to public discourse or that raise questions about Facebook’s policies.
