So far content moderation is different for citizens than for politicians. The change comes after Facebook confirmed the suspension of Donald Trump’s account for two years.
Facebook plans to stop giving special treatment to elected politicians – and other influential figures – who use its platforms, whose posts are considered news content. This is a suggestion from his Content Advisory Council after ratifying the suspension of the account of former United States President Donald Trump.
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Until now, Mark Zuckerberg’s company had a different policy of restraint for citizens and elected politicians, treating “politicians’ speech as news content that, as a general rule, should be seen and heard,” as he explained in a statement from Facebook’s Vice President of Global Affairs, Nick Clegg, in 2019.
The recommendation to stop dealing with politicians with different norms has now been issued after the Advisory Council ratified the suspension of the Facebook account of former United States President Donald Trump, for encouraging with his comments the assault on the Capitol on 6 September January, as reported by The Verge portal.
The Facebook Content Advisory Council is a body made up of independent experts created by the company to decide on complex moderation issues related to its social networks. Its decisions are binding, and users can now appeal.
Politicians on Facebook and temporary suspensions
In its resolution on Trump’s suspension, the Council endorsed his temporary suspension but issued a series of recommendations to modify the company’s moderation rules “regarding the serious risk of causing harm by political leaders and other influential figures”, also focused on the period of suspension of the accounts.
The body asked Facebook to “address the widespread confusion about how decisions involving influential users are made,” including politicians, and stressed that “newsworthiness considerations should not take priority when urgent action must be taken to avoid significant damage ”.
In this regard, the Council pointed out to Facebook that the accounts of heads of State and senior officials “may have more power to cause harm than other people”, and in cases where these accounts repeatedly post messages that pose a risk of harm , temporary suspensions should be extended.
Follow the news of El Espectador on Google NewsThe period of suspension time for the accounts of influential figures is another aspect that the Council has requested to be modified in its moderation policy. Currently the suspensions are only temporary, but in Trump’s case, Facebook suspended his account “indefinitely,” a measure not described in the platform’s policies.
The Council asked Facebook to “reevaluate” this sanction that it considered “arbitrary” and requested that the company modify these aspects of its policies in six months, with measures based on the infraction and the possibility that the events could be repeated in the future. The resolution even contemplates the elimination of accounts for repeat offenders.
Likewise, as reported by The Verge, Facebook plans to share more information about the moderation protocol it follows for accounts that violate its content policy, to include notices to users who carry out actions that could lead to the elimination of their accounts. .
Mark Zuckerberg’s company is also studying to begin to publicly report cases in which it uses news criteria to respect posts by politicians or other users who otherwise do not respect its moderation rules.
