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I didn't weigh in on @OversightBoard decisions in part because I have a big piece coming soon, but also because after 2+ yrs watching OSB get set up, I was SO curious to see people's reactions
IMHO @persily
nailed it, especially with framing it in the big picture, but my 
1/ https://twitter.com/persily/status/1354806091943579655
IMHO @persily
nailed it, especially with framing it in the big picture, but my 1/ https://twitter.com/persily/status/1354806091943579655
It's a small point but a few people have called the Board's decisions "ambitious." I disagree. That's not arguing with the fact that they didn't take hard cases, but I think their policy aims were narrow, targeted & foundation building.
Let me explain:
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Let me explain:
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For the last 15 years, FB has slowly and iteratively been building a system of content moderation. For a long time, this was done (1) in secret within the company; (2) through ad hoc decisions ("let's just put out the fire and move on")
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But slowly that system formalized and organized and started becoming more transparent--especially as outside pressure mounted for it to do so. It evolved into a common law-like system of governance over speech, and people started to notice, and (obviously) people got angry.
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That anger has created so much visibility and pressure on platforms to show us their work, listen to stakeholders, and of course, to give up some of their power.
That's where the @OversightBoard comes in.
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That's where the @OversightBoard comes in.
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HELLO, WORLD IT'S 2021. We have this private transnational system governing human rights for speech (+assembly! +association!) and there should be smart, thoughtful experts weighing in and shaping these vital decisions instead of monarchical private companies all on their own!
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If you accept that FB's content moderation & speech policy is a governance system over speech, you might want to start forcing that system to adhere to some universal principals of justice and human rights law: notice of rules, explanation, proportionality in punishment etc.
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And that is exactly what these @OversightBoard opinions go for--taking the system seriously, pushing for users to know what the rules are, what they did to break them, when they're made by algorithms, & where the punishment could be more than just t"ake it down or leave it up"
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They are limited but CRUCIAL first steps to giving people due process in this space, and I think they're things that Facebook can and must implement.
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