So far, have celebrities on Facebook had a free ticket – and could they get out more than ordinary users? The network’s governing body is now investigating this suspicion.
The independent supervisory body of Facebook got involved because of a media report, according to which the online network makes exceptions to its content rules for prominent users.
The so-called Oversight Board now wants to clarify, among other things, whether it has been adequately informed on the subject by Facebook. Facebook had to become more transparent when deciding whether content should remain on the platform or be deleted, the committee emphasized in a blog entry on Tuesday.
The “Wall Street Journal” had recently written, citing internal documents of the online network, that Facebook had created a system in which numerous users were in fact excluded from the application of the content rules. In doing so, they could have allowed themselves missteps that would have consequences for ordinary members. Facebook’s rules prohibit, among other things, posts with insults or threats and the violation of other people’s privacy.
According to Facebook, the system called Cross-Check was set up in order to avoid errors through a second check of decisions about individual posts. According to an internal Facebook document quoted by the Wall Street Journal, in many cases this became a kind of free ticket for celebrities.
According to the newspaper report, at least 5.8 million Facebook users are in the cross-check program. On request, Facebook informed the Oversight Board that it was only used for a small number of decisions.
The body consists of legal experts, activists and former politicians and is a kind of “Supreme Court” of Facebook, whose decisions even founder and boss Mark Zuckerberg cannot overrule.
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