Facebooks independent oversight board could be overwhelmed by the challenge

Today let’s talk about Facebook’s independent Oversight Board, which just announced its co-chairs and initial membership. The board will allow Facebook and Instagram users to appeal when they believe that their posts have been removed in error, and upon request will issue advisory opinions to the company on emerging policy questions.

The scope of the work is expected to expand over time — within months of launching, for example, the board is expected to rule on which posts should come down as well as which ones stay up. (To lots of people, myself included, the latter feels like a more urgent problem.) Facebook handpicked the inaugural members, who will serve three-year terms, but over time the board will pick its own members. The...

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