Why in News?

• Facebook’s Oversight Board upheld the social media network’s decision to block the then-US President Donald Trump from its platform.

About the board

• The Oversight Board has been set up as an independent body that will help Facebook figure out what content can be allowed on the platform and what ought to be removed.
• It was said to have emerged out of the tensions around the often conflicting goals of maintaining Facebook as a platform for free speech and effectively filtering out problematic speech.
• The decisions of the board are binding on Facebook.

What are its recommendations?

• The Board wants Facebook to act quickly when it comes to content of a political nature coming from influential users. Its idea is to escalate such content to specialised staff as also assess potential harms from such accounts. It also wants Facebook to be more transparent about its policies regarding assistance to investigations as well as its penalty rules. 
• It also wants Facebook to comprehensively review its potential contribution to the narrative of electoral fraud and the exacerbated tensions that culminated in the violence in the United States in January 2021. This should be an open reflection on the design and policy choices that Facebook has made that may allow its platform to be abused.

Reference:

1. https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/technology/internet/explainer-what-is-facebooks-oversight-board/article34500035.ece