Facebook’s Oversight Board needs greater authority

May 20, Jared Schroeder, associate professor of Journalism specializing in Free Press/Free Speech at SMU Dallas (along with co-author Dipayan Ghosh, Harvard Kennedy School), for a piece advocating for an autonomous oversight board to police technology platforms. Published in Protego Press: https://bit.ly/2zfMwvJ

Facebook announced the inaugural twenty members of its independent Oversight Board earlier this month.  But while the board is filled with esteemed and respected names, we believe its underlying concept will require further consideration in the way forward.

The board’s scope, which focuses primarily on take-down decisions, is limited and may not effectively address the myriad misinformation and disinformation problems that plague Facebook’s spaces. The board is also reactive, rather than proactive.  It seeks to close the gate after the chickens have fled the coop. Board decisions simply cannot come fast enough to effectively protect the flow of information. . .

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