Meta’s Oversight Board on Wednesday overturned Facebook’s decision to remove a meme that mocked the Democratic presidential ticket in the form of characters from the hit movie “Dumb and Dumber.”
Mark Zuckerberg-led Facebook — which famously censored The Post’s Hunter Biden laptop coverage — removed a post in August that superimposed the faces of the 1994 film’s stars, Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels, on Kamala Harris and her Running mate Tim Walz’s face was photoshopped.
A doctored movie poster showing Harris and Walz “grabbing each other’s nipples through their clothes” was flagged for violating Facebook’s policy against stalking and harassment, according to an Oversight Board review. was passed, which prohibits “offensive sexually explicit photoshop or images”.
The user appealed to the Oversight Board, which reviews Meta’s content moderation decisions. After being contacted by the board, Meta reinstated the post.
Oversight Board – which led to the outage last month Determining the anti-Israel phrase “from the river to the sea” This is not hate speech – it said on Wednesday that the meme was “nothing more than a generic satirical image of prominent politicians and is instantly recognisable.”
The board did not publish the user’s original post or image of the meme, but similar versions of the meme that matched its description could be seen online.
In summary of the caseThe Board expressed concern that “over-enforcement” of the bullying and harassment policy by META in the election context “could excessively stifle political speech and weaken the ability to criticize government officials and political candidates, Which also includes sarcastic speech.” Manner.”
“Protecting social media users’ right to freedom of expression is a core principle for the Oversight Board. “The majority of our decisions are whether to ‘release’ or restore content removed by Meta,” Michael McConnell, co-chair of the Oversight Board, said in a statement.
“The platform should be a place where political debate and discussion can flourish, especially during elections, protests and other social movements,” McConnell said. “The Board will hold META accountable for impartially implementing its policies and implementation.”
The Oversight Board issued a “summary decision” on the matter, described as an example in which “Meta has reversed its original decision on a piece of content after it was brought to the company’s attention by the Board. ”
When contacted for comment, a Meta spokesperson confirmed that the company has reinstated the post.
“We removed this post in error but restored it after the issue was brought to our attention,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
Meta has faced intense criticism over its content moderation practices in recent years.
Remorseful Zuckerberg creates uproar In August he acknowledged that the Biden-Harris administration had pressured Facebook to suppress COVID-related content, including light-hearted memes and satire, during the height of the pandemic.
Elsewhere, the advisory board, which is funded by Meta but claims to be independent, has recently faced questions about its impartiality.
As reported by The PostSeveral members of the 21-member board had criticized Israel’s actions in Gaza in recent years.
Last month, the advisory board determined that Facebook and Instagram users could use the slogan “From River to Sea” as long as they were not glorifying Hamas or calling for violence.
The slogan refers to the idea of a Palestinian state spanning the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea – land currently controlled by Israel.
Several prominent Jewish groups condemned the board’s decision. The Combat Antisemitism Movement described the decision as “absurd” and said it would encourage the spread of antisemitism online.
