Meta to donate $150 million to its Oversight Board

Facebook parent Meta Platforms will donate $150 million to the Oversight Board Trust for funding, managing, and overseeing its operations. The new fund is in addition to the $130 million Meta had pledged in 2019.

The Oversight Board is an independent body set up by Meta in May 2020 to take an independent call on controversial content moderation decisions related to issues such as hate speeches. The Board’s job is to make recommendations to Meta on which content should be allowed or blocked on its various platforms.

Through this Board and the funding provided to them, Meta is also trying to show that it is serious about content moderation. Regulators in various regions including the US have been calling for regulating social media networks and making them more accountable to their users.

The Board claims to have received over one million user requests challenging Meta’s content moderation decisions.

“By making this ongoing financial commitment, Meta has issued a vote of confidence in the work of the Board and its efforts to apply Facebook and Instagram content standards in a manner that protects freedom of expression and pertinent human rights standards,” Stephen Neal, chairperson of the Oversight Board Trust said in a statement.

The Board was started with 20 members with the plan to add 20 additional members from diverse backgrounds over a period of time.

In April, Meta decided to restrict sharing of private home addresses on Facebook and Instagram even if that information was publicly available based on a recommendation from the Oversight Board. In May 2021, the Board backed Facebook’s decision to block the account of then-US President Donald Trump for using its platform to incite violent resurrection.