Facebook’s new review board will make all decisions on reported content

Facebook is revamping the way it handles all the reported content by drafting a proposal of a content review board which will make decisions regarding appealed reports which go up the chain. In simple terms, consider a court case where you may have lost against the opposing party, you decide to appeal it and the matter goes up to the higher court for reconsideration. In this case, the first two appeals against the reported content will be handled by Facebook’s internal review systems but if the user still wants reconsideration, the matter will be passed on to the review board.

The board will consist of members which have experience in content, privacy, free expression, human rights, journalism, civil rights,
safety, and other relevant disciplines whereas the list of members on the board will always be available to the public. The total number of members suggested in the review board is 40 which consist of experts from around the globe.

Taking a closer look at the proposal, we see Facebook wants an independent set of advisors and it is keeping its influence limited by only suggesting members or terminating their contracts if they violate the agreement set forth. Each member elected, will get to serve 3 years on the board and this term is automatically renewable once. The first few members elected, will get to select the upcoming members and in this case, Facebook can also suggest members but they must be approved by the board.

The PDF is available for reading for the general public and can be viewed here.