[ad_1]
Meta announced a change in the way it deals with takedown requests from government entities such as the police, after the company’s board of directors ruled it was wrong to ban a music video that said British law enforcement will “take harm offline”.
The parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp created its supervisory board last year, made up of 20 journalists, experts and politicians, tasked with making independent decisions on content moderation cases.
The body, the opinion of Meta policy chief and former deputy prime minister of England Sir Nick Clegg, has been seen as an attempt to distance the company’s senior management from difficult decisions related to the speechless.
On Tuesday, the board of directors decided a case related to the offensive song, Secrets Are Not Safe by Chinx, which contained information about previous group shootings, was removed from Instagram in January, following two takedown requests from UK regulators.
Meta’s actions were inconsistent with its policies, values and human rights responsibilities, the supervisory board said Tuesday.
If the social media group accepts the board’s recommendations, the role of the tech giant, led by CEO Mark Zuckerberg, will change with police and governments around the world, especially through increase understanding of why certain decisions were made.
The change will bring a new perspective on how law enforcement agencies can submit takedown requests for legal purposes, with militaries from the US to Israel designated reference points for social media.
The UK’s internet safety bill, due to become law next year, will allow platforms to ban “lawful but harmful” content. The measure would be a new global precedent for regulation of online content, and privacy advocates argue it will limit free speech.
Meta returned the music video after a successful request from the banker. But the company quickly removed the video after receiving a second request from Meta that it was successful because the video contained “veiled threats” of violence.
Drill songs often feature aggressive lyrics and cover issues including gang violence and crime but the links between the genre and violence are highly contested.
Meta did not have enough evidence to show that the message was a genuine threat, and more weight should be given to the artistic nature of the video, the board of directors said in its decision on Tuesday.
According to a request for information carried out by the investigation board, the Metropolitan Police of England requested that social media companies review 286 episodes involving music between June 2021 and May 2022, which 89 percent were adopted.
The police force has not asked social media companies to review content related to other types of music at this time.
“[Drill is] it’s a platform for disenfranchised youth, especially black and brown, to express their frustration with a system that perpetuates discrimination and exclusion,” said Shmyla Khan, the group’s director. support on Pakistan Digital Rights Foundation.
“Making music with ‘violent lyrics’ and imagery is illegal in the UK . . . “Meta has to work very clearly for every request it receives,” Khan said.
The supervisory board asked Meta to clarify its decision-making process on takeover requests from state actors because the current structure could “increase suspicion”.
It was also recommended that users be able to ask the board for these decisions and create a standard system for receiving content removal requests from government actors. It should include the question of how a policy is violated, and the evidence for this.
Meta also needs to change its guidelines on violence and persuasion to include exceptions for humor, sarcasm and artistic expression, the board said.
The company has 60 days to respond to the recommendations. Meta and the Metropolitan Police declined to comment.
Stephanie Hare, promoter and author of Technology is not neutral: A Brief Guide to Technology Principlessaid the fear of music genres is nothing new but the digital nature of music has created a liability for technology companies.
“What’s different now is that we do it online, so you can have custom options and keep them with you,” he said. “It’s easier for companies to err on the side of restriction than on the side of freedom.”
[ad_2]
Source link