IANS | 26 May, 2021
The independent Oversight Board on Wednesday overturned Facebook's
decision to remove a comment in which a supporter of imprisoned Russian
opposition leader Alexei Navalny called another user a "cowardly bot."
Facebook removed the comment for using the word "cowardly" which was construed as a negative character claim.
The
Board found that while Facebook's removal of the content may have been
consistent with a strict application of the Community Standards, the
Community Standards fail to consider the wider context and
disproportionately restricted freedom of expression.
"While the
removal was in line with the Bullying and Harassment Community Standard,
the current Standard was an unnecessary and disproportionate
restriction on free expression under international human rights
standards. It was also not in line with Facebook's values," the Board
argued.
Last week, the Board overturned Facebook's decision to remove a comment intended to criticise the Turkish government.
The
board, constituted by Facebook with 20 members from across the world,
last month upheld Facebook's decision on January 7 to suspend then US
President Donald Trump from its main platform and Instagram.
While
the Board concluded that Trump should have been suspended from Facebook
and Instagram, it also found that Facebook failed to impose a proper
penalty.
