Facebook has long been criticized for its content moderation policies, which can be confusing and inconsistently applied at best. That’s why the company announced the creation of an independent Oversight Board last year that would act as a “Supreme Court,” hearing individual users’ complaints about content removal. And after many stops and starts, Facebook announced this week that the board will launch in advance of the 2020 U.S. presidential election.

With the amount of false content expected to flood the platform surrounding the election, this is welcome news. However, many experts are still skeptical that the board will actually have the power necessary to change the way Facebook acts.

“We were told this was going to be the supreme court of Facebook, but then it came out more like a local district court, and now it’s more of a traffic court,” Harvard Law School lecturer and online speech expert Evelyn Douek told the Guardian. “It’s just been steadily narrowed over time.”

On the one hand, it’s a good thing that Facebook was willing to hand moderation authority over to an independent body. But on the other, it’s troubling that the company has basically given up on trying to solve its problems by itself.

Recommended Resources

The Choice of Tech Experts Worldwide. Try 90 days free of Bitdefender and experience the highest level of digital safety.

Surf the web truly incognito. Try Bitdefender Premium VPN, the ultra-fast VPN that keeps your online identity and activities safe from hackers, ISPs and snoops.

System Mechanic 14 – Make your computer run like new. Winner of 200+ Editor’s Choice awards!