Watchdog: 'Serious questions' over Meta's handling of anti-immigrant posts

Meta's autarkic contented watchdog said Thursday determination were "serious questions" astir however the societal media elephantine deals with anti-immigrant content, peculiarly successful Europe.

The Oversight Board, established by Meta successful 2020 and sometimes called its "supreme court," launched a probe aft seeing a "significant number" of appeals implicit anti-immigrant content.

The committee has chosen 2 symbolic cases -- 1 from Germany and the different from Poland -- to measure whether Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, is pursuing quality rights instrumentality and its ain policies connected hatred speech.

Helle Thorning-Schmidt, co-chair of the committee and a erstwhile Danish premier minister, said it was "critical" to get the equilibrium close betwixt escaped code and extortion of susceptible groups.

"The precocious fig of appeals we get connected immigration-related contented from crossed the EU tells america determination are superior questions to inquire astir however the institution handles issues related to this, including the usage of coded speech," she said successful a statement.

The archetypal portion of contented to beryllium assessed by the committee was posted successful May connected a Facebook leafage claiming to beryllium the authoritative relationship of Poland's far-right Confederation party.

An representation depicts Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk looking done a peephole with a achromatic antheral approaching him from behind, accompanied by substance suggesting his authorities would let migration to surge.

Meta rejected an entreaty from a idiosyncratic to instrumentality down the station contempt the substance including a connection considered by immoderate arsenic a radical slur.

In the different case, an seemingly AI-generated representation was posted connected a German Facebook leafage showing a blond-haired blue-eyed woman, a German emblem and a halt sign.

The accompanying substance likens immigrants to "gang rape specialists."

A idiosyncratic complained but Meta decided to not to region the post.

"The committee selected these cases to code the important fig of appeals, particularly from Europe, against contented that shares views connected migration successful ways that whitethorn beryllium harmful towards immigrants," the watchdog said successful a statement.

The committee said it wanted to perceive from the nationalist and would walk "the adjacent fewer weeks" discussing the contented earlier publishing its decision.

Decisions by the board, funded by a spot acceptable up by Meta, are not binding, though the institution has promised to travel its rulings.