Over the years, Facebook has been continuously called out for their negligence in eliminating insensitive and unwanted posts. In a recent announcement, Facebook’s Oversight Board – a board that focuses on Facebook’s content moderation – will now be accepting appeals from users to remove negative content including posts/statuses, comments, videos, photos and shares on the platform.
Users Can Now Appeal Content Left Up on Facebook or Instagram to the Oversight Board https://t.co/aoV611vmgt
— Facebook Newsroom (@fbnewsroom) April 13, 2021
So – how can you appeal? Appeals can be made to the Board when users have exhausted options to report the content on Facebook. If the Facebook app denies deleting the content from their platform, users receive an Oversight Board Reference ID in their Support Inbox with a final date to appeal the decision. The parameters for suspension of Facebook’s online content include: hate speech, threats, misinformation. Users can then log in on the Board’s website with their Facebook account credentials and apply for the appeal by typing in their Reference ID. The board then decides unanimously on the proposed content and will share its decision with Facebook accordingly.
Facebook Oversight Board was launched in October 2020 to allow users to appeal to restore content that was deleted by Facebook. The body – however – reviews only a limited number of users cases, which leads to a lower probability of Facebook users getting an effective decision on their appeal. Facebook revealed that it aims to increase their workforce for the Facebook Oversights Board from 20 to 40 to cater to its larger audience.