Meta must review its own role in amplifying misinformation, Oversight Board rules
The Board ruled that the policy should not yet be relaxed, given that WHO still considers COVID-19 an international public health emergency.
The Oversight Board at Meta, established to deliberate over key questions raised in its operations, issued a report on 20 April analysing the company’s COVID-19 misinformation policy. In 2020, the company implemented a new approach to tackling COVID-19 misinformation on its platform through its ‘Misinformation about health during public health emergencies’ policy.
Meta asked the Oversight Board whether the policy should be now loosened. Since the adoption of the policy, 27 million pieces of COVID-19 misinformation were removed from Facebook and Instagram for violating Meta policy.
The Board ruled that the policy should not yet be relaxed, given that the World Health Organization (WHO) still considers COVID-19 an international public health emergency. The Board also suggested the company prepares for when WHO declaration is lifted to ensure that whatever comes next complies with freedom of expression and human rights. In that sense, the report proposed an assessment of how social media platforms may have contributed to the spread of misinformation. The report also suggests that Meta should study the human rights implications of existing design choices and provide more clarity and transparency about its rules and policies.
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