According to Meta’s Board of Supervisors, Instagram should not ban an educational song | Tech Reddy

According to the Meta Oversight Board, the company should have refused police requests to remove pop music – a type of rap that some politicians and officials have blamed for gang violence – from its platform. . The board says Instagram made a mistake in banning a UK training song after a request from London’s Metropolitan Police.

In addition, the board is encouraging Meta to demonstrate greater understanding of its relationship with law enforcement in the future, and greater consideration of the artistic context of a work. Meta must reverse the ban and respond to policy recommendations within 60 days.

The board’s decision, published today, covers a January incident involving a song called “Secrets Not Safe” by singer Chinx (OS). The police sent a request to Meta shortly after the release of the song and its music video on Instagram, and Meta referred the problem to a team for special consideration. It was determined that the song refers to the 2017 shooting and includes a “horrific call to action” that could pose a safety risk and violate Meta rules.

The implementation of that decision was uneven. The producer requested that the song be reinstated by a reviewer outside the group, but that decision was overturned and the song was banned again a week later, following a second request from the police.

The board notes that law enforcement can provide a useful context for moderation but questions whether Meta has established a separate assessment for that context. The decision offers additional background information that allows Meta to argue that music is not a threat, including the need for “functional simplicity” in classical music.

“Not all categories are good enough to be eliminated by law enforcement – and not all categories are valid. strength to lead to an increase in violence – it must be taken down,” the decision read.

The decision shows a gray area in the area of ​​law and social networks: requests to delete information that may not be illegal but violate the policies of social networks. While Meta provides official reports on formal government requests to extract data, it is less transparent about simple requests such as Metropolitan Police email. “This case shows the level of influence that law enforcement has over Meta’s internal gangs,” the board said. “Law enforcement is not required to meet minimum criteria to clarify and justify their requests, resulting in unstructured, random interactions, and not consistent with Meta.”

According to the Board of Supervisors, Meta did not live up to its values, especially being “voiced” to users. “Art is a very important and powerful expression of ‘Voice’, especially for people from marginalized groups who create art based on their experiences,” the decision said.

The decision also urges Meta to provide clearer information on “hidden threats” and require less information from the police in applications. The singer’s own post won’t be back up, though — the account was disabled and permanently deleted before the decision was made.

Although this case involves a UK singer, social networks have also had an effect on the download of music in the US. In February, New York City Mayor Eric Adams criticized social media for posting the type, though he later insisted he was not trying to ban them. There will be more debate about informal government pressure on social media – something that has come up in the context of the covid scandal, where President Joe Biden is said to have criticized Facebook and others hosting services.

The independence of the Supervisory Board gives Meta an additional layer of protection against government pressure. The company took the case to the board itself, and has traditionally followed the board’s decisions — so a declaration that the drill bits have artistic value is a clear path if Meta wants to. to reject future requests.