facebook oversight board facebook theverge

Facebook oversight board facebook theverge series#

In the face of conflicting characterizations and persistent controversy surrounding Facebook’s business activities, how do lawyers, particularly business lawyers, understand and evaluate Oversight Board’s novel construction, that claims to incorporate principles of the rule of law and international human rights into the core of its activities? The Structures of Oversight BoardĪs one of the world’s largest and most prominent social media platforms, Facebook has responded to increasing demand for the regulation of social media companies in a novel manner, by creating a separate private business entity to advise a narrow band of its content decisions. Most recently, placing board members on par with journalists, academics, and other members of civil society, the board characterized its work as a mere “part” of a “collective effort” to steer Facebook towards greater transparency. In stark contrast, Oversight Board uses more narrow terminology to describe itself, using little more than its own highly suggestive name and sharply defined contractual terms. Oversight Board has been referred to as “an elaborate structure for a supposedly independent body to review…content decisions” and “a group of own making.” It has also been called an “independent body,” an “independent panel,” and a “quasi-independent oversight board.” Some reports have gone so far as calling it Facebook’s “Supreme Court,” “a quasi-judicial organization,” or even an “international human rights tribunal.” These descriptions are neither fitting nor accurate. Press reports have referred to Facebook’s Oversight Board using a range of descriptors from the cynical to the ridiculous.

Facebook oversight board facebook theverge series#

This article is the third in a series on intersections between business law and the rule of law and their importance for business lawyers, created by the American Bar Association Business Law Section’s Rule of Law Working Group. Diversity and Inclusion in the Profession.Recent Developments in Business and Corporate Litigation.

Short videos on M&A concepts, created by Hotshot and the M&A Committee. Business Regulation & Regulated Industries.Business Litigation & Dispute Resolution.