Undercurrents: The Oversight Board's Trump decision, and Merkel's legacy Audio bhorton.drupal 25 June 2021

Was Facebook right to suspend Trump? And how will Merkel be remembered?

In the wake of the storming of Capitol Hill on 6 January 2021, social media platforms took steps to remove former President Donald Trump from their websites for infringing community standards. This step was welcomed by many, but also raised serious questions about the power of social media companies to limit free speech and censor elected officials. The suspension of President Trump from Facebook was referred to the Oversight Board, an independent body of experts set up to scrutinise the platform’s content moderation decisions.  

In this episode, Ben speaks to Thomas Hughes and Kate Jones about the outcome of the Oversight Board’s inquiry into the Trump suspension, and the wider implications for content moderation on social media.  

Then Lara is joined by Hans Kundnani to assess the political outlook in Germany and reflect on the legacy of outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel.  

A year and a half after announcing its creation, Facebook has named the initial 20 members of its oversight board, a quasi-independent panel that is to make decisions on thorny issues. The board’s members were named by Facebook and hail from a broad swath of regions around the world. They include Tawakkol Karman, a Nobel […]

A year and a half after announcing its creation, Facebook has named the initial 20 members of its oversight board, a quasi-independent panel that is to make decisions on thorny issues. The board’s members were named by Facebook and hail from a broad swath of regions around the world. They include Tawakkol Karman, a Nobel […]

Facebook's new content oversight board will include a former prime minister, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and several constitutional law experts and rights advocates in its first 20 members.

Facebook's new content oversight board will include a former prime minister, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and several constitutional law experts and rights advocates in its first 20 members.

The company has faced criticism in recent years for its handling of issues ranging from user privacy to policing hate speech to stopping the spread of disinformation.

Facebook oversight board members will decide what Facebook and Instagram users can and cannot post on the platforms.

We are a new board overseeing Facebook. Here’s what we’ll decide.Catalina Botero-Marino, Jamal Greene, Michael W. McConnell and Helle Thorning-Schmidt, The New York TimesFacebook announced the first members of its content oversight board this week, a...

The youngest ever vice-chancellor of NLSIU was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, and looks to establish a precedent-setting moderation model at Facebook.

Sudhir Krishnaswamy also clarifies that he won't be representing cases related to India, but willl look at content moderation questions from around the world.

Facebook's new content oversight board will include a former prime minister, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and several constitutional law experts and rights advocates in its first 20 members.

Facebook's new content oversight board will include a former prime minister, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and several constitutional law experts and rights advocates in its first 20 members.

Brent Harris, Facebook’s director of governance and global affairs had stated in January that the company has been laying the groundwork for a new independent organisation, the Oversight Board, to review cases and make binding content decisions.

The board, which will have its own website, is housed under a trust, which the social media giant says is independent of Facebook and is endowed with $130 million.