Meta’s Oversight Board Promises to Engage Underrepresented Countries
By: Christian Conteh
Meta’s Oversight Board has pledged to ‘strategically engage with underrepresented countries’, aiming to amplify diverse voices in the digital realm.
This commitment was announced during a roundtable discussion organised by the National Democratic Institute’s (NDI) through its Information Integrity (Info/tegrity) Initiative.
The NDI’s Info/tegrity initiative stands as a global endeavor, uniting organizations and individuals actively promoting information integrity. The initiative facilitates collaboration, idea exchange, research, and knowledge sharing through the Global Info/tegrity Network, fostering a global understanding of information environments to enhance information integrity universally.
At the core of the discussion was the pivotal role of the Oversight Board in content moderation—deciding whether content should remain on the platform or be removed.
Holly, a representative from Meta, articulated the board’s dedication to addressing cases that may not make global headlines but significantly impact societies.
Holly stated, “The board is working on taking cases that may not end up in the world news but affect their societies. We, as the board, have to find ways to reach out to other stakeholders, particularly those on the ground, so they have a say in policy formulation.”
Adding that, “I feel that we have only scratched the surface in terms of potential to collaborate, to source cases. We shall work on building effective communication channels so we interact more.”
Jenny, another Meta representative, echoed these sentiments, emphasizing the strategic engagement of underrepresented communities. She acknowledged the need for improved engagement on their part and a commitment to exploring more avenues.
“This has been on our minds for the past year – how to more strategically engage our stakeholders, especially from communities that are underrepresented,” she said.
Jenny addressed the challenge of fewer appeals from users, stating, “We don’t get many appeals, and we work mostly with appeals. But we shall try to strategically engage underrepresented countries.”
They were responding to a question asked by Christian Conteh a Journalist and Fact Checker who happens to be the Project Officer of the SLAJ/NDI Combating Disinformation Project in Sierra Leone.
The information integrity landscape encompasses various topics such as cybersecurity, digital literacy, countering information manipulation, addressing online violence against women and marginalized groups, and social media monitoring.
The Oversight Board, as an independent entity, plays a pivotal role in Meta’s content moderation. Its decisions are binding, ensuring Meta’s compliance, and recommendations are made for continuous policy enhancement. The diverse composition of the board, consisting of experts and civic leaders worldwide, reflects the diversity of platform users.
