Facebook revamps controversial content moderation process for VIPs

New York CNN — Facebook-parent Meta on Friday announced a revamp of its “cross-check” moderation system after facing criticism for giving VIPs special treatment by applying different review processes for VIP posts versus those from regular users. But Meta stopped short of adopting all the recommended changes that had previously been put forward by its own Oversight Board, including a suggestion to publicly identify which high-profile accounts qualify for the program. The cross-check program came under fire in November 2021 after a report from the Wall Street Journal indicated that the system shielded some VIP users — such as politicians, celebrities, journalists and Meta business partners like advertisers — from the company’s normal content moderation process, in some cases allowing them to post rule-violating content without consequences. As of 2020, the program had ballooned to include 5.8 million users, the Journal reported. Meta’s Oversight Board said in the wake of the report that Facebook had failed to provide it with crucial details about the system. At the time, Meta said that criticism of the system was fair, but that cross-check was created in order to improve the accuracy of moderation on content that “could require more understanding.” Meta’s Oversight […]

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