Our Submission to The Meta Oversight Board on Policies Regarding Expression about Gender Identity

Background

The Future of Free Speech (FoFS)1 is an independent, nonpartisan think tank located at Vanderbilt University. We work to restore a resilient global culture of free speech in the digital age through knowledge, research, and advocacy.

FoFS’ comment focuses on the following issues identified by the Oversight Board:

The impacts of Meta’s Hate Speech and Bullying and Harassment policies on freedom of expression around gender identity issues, and the rights of transgender people, including minors.

In light of the above question, we have sought to put forth ideas/good practices/material/arguments for purposes of assessing the impact of the above looking at issues such as (i) International Human Rights Law (ii) Best practices from national courts and their relevance in the development and application of these policies in the ambit of gender identity and rights of transgender purposes. It looks at broader issues that need to be taken into account when measuring the impact of such policies in the ambit of gender identity issues and the rights of transgender people such as (i) the impact of removal of controversial trans-related issues on public debate and social cohesion (ii) hate speech removal and free speech ramifications and (iii) automated content moderation and its effect on the LGBTQ+ community.

Key Takeaways

— The FoFS agrees with Meta’s decision that neither case violated its Hate Speech and Bullying and Harassment policies. The FoFS holds that Meta’s decision is in line with International Human Rights Law.

— The FoFS proposes that Meta and the Oversight Board look to IHRL and specifically Article 20(2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Rabat Plan of Action as well as good practices from national courts such as higher courts of South Africa to guide the assessment of community standards around gender identity issues and the rights of transgender people, including minors.

— The FoFS proposes that Meta and the Oversight Board take into consideration the paramount significance of open public debate when it comes to current controversial issues and the social and democratic impact of silencing such debates in whole or in part.

— The FoFS suggest that Meta considers aligning content moderation documents of Instagram and Facebook to ensure certainty and legitimacy.

— The FoFS recommends that META considers alternative methods to deal with hate speech that may not meet international thresholds of prohibition. These include distributed content moderation and counterspeech.