Big Technology
Should We Trust The Facebook Oversight Board?
Some call it a scam. Others say it’s the best available option. Either way, the Facebook Oversight Board is about to decide whether Trump can use Facebook.
Over the next few weeks, the biggest tech story will be the Facebook Oversight Board’s ruling on Donald Trump. Facebook suspended Trump indefinitely following the Capitol Riots earlier this year. And now the board — a 19-member body that can review and overturn Facebook’s content decisions — is about to decide whether to bring him back.
As we enter a frenzied news cycle over the board’s decision, the key question underlying it all will be whether we can trust this new entity, which Facebook set up last year.
Some call the board a necessary, Supreme Court-style institution that brings the public into Facebook’s decision-making process. Others say it gives us a false sense of representation in an inherently undemocratic content operation. “I can’t believe anyone takes it seriously,” Matt Stoller, director of research at the American Economic Liberties Project, told me. “It’s idiotic.”
Let’s briefly walk through the arguments for and against the board.
