Meta’s watchdog takes on two anti-immigration content moderation cases

Meta’s independent content watchdog has said there are “serious questions” about how the social media company deals with anti-immigration content, especially in Europe. 

Highlighting two cases, one in Germany and the other in Poland, the Oversight Board, which says it is independent of Meta but was created by the social media platform, launched a probe after seeing a “significant number” of appeals over anti-immigrant content.

“The high number of appeals we get on immigration-related content from across the EU tells us there are serious questions to ask about how the company handles issues related to this, including the use of coded speech,” Helle Thorning-Schmidt, co-chair of the board and a former Danish prime minister, said in a statement. 

She added that it was “critical” to get the balance right between free speech and the protection of vulnerable groups.

What are the cases?

The board will first look at a case which involves a meme of Prime Minister Donald Tusk posted on Facebook page, which describes itself as the official page of Poland’s far-right coalition party, Confederation (Konfederacja Wolność i Niepodległość). 

The post shows an image depicting Tusk looking through a peephole with a black man behind him, with a text that suggests his party would allow immigration to surge and a word that is considered racist. The post has been viewed over 150,000 times. 

Meta had rejected an appeal from a user to take down the post.

The German case shows an AI-generated image posted on Facebook that likens immigrants to “gang rape specialists,” with a woman with blonde hair and blue eyes, a German flag and a stop sign. 

A user complained to Meta about this post, which was not taken down either. 

“The board selected these cases to address the significant number of appeals, especially from Europe, against content that shares views on immigration in ways that may be harmful towards immigrants,” the watchdog said in a statement.

The board will now decide whether Meta must remove this content or whether it should stay up on Facebook.

It said it will also assess whether Meta’s decision to only protect refugees, migrants, immigrants, and asylum seekers from “the most severe attacks” on its social media platforms under its hate speech policy is adequate.

The Oversight Board was created in 2020 by Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg. It is funded by Meta but states it is independent.

It is made up of former world leaders, activists, and top lawyers, to make decisions on the most significant content moderation challenges on Facebook and Instagram.