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Article

6 May 2020

Author:
Jane Wakefield, BBC

Facebook announces members of independent oversight board, includes former Danish Prime Minister & Special Rapporteurs

"Facebook's 'supreme court' members announced," 6 May 2020

Facebook has announced who will sit on an independent board, set up to have ultimate say over what controversial content should be taken down. Former Danish prime minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt will co-chair the panel with three others... Initially consisting of 16 members, there are plans to expand numbers to 40. It will begin hearing cases later this year. At first this will just be deliberating on content that individuals feel has been wrongfully removed but, in following months, it will also look at appeals from users who want Facebook to remove content... Panellists will also review content referred to it directly by Facebook, and will be able to make policy recommendations based on its decisions. All decisions will be made public.

... The board will concentrate on cases that affect large numbers of users, and those which affect public discourse or raise specific questions about Facebook's policy. Members are a mix of journalists, judges, digital rights activists and former government advisers from around the globe, including:

  • Afia Asantewaa Asare-Kyei - a human rights advocate who works on women's rights and media freedom across Africa...
  • Nighat Dad - a digital rights advocate, based in Pakistan...
  • Ronaldo Lemos, a lawyer who co-created a national internet rights law in Brazil... 

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