Meta’s oversight board commented on the company’s content moderation policies in Venezuela amid a violent crackdown and widespread protests following a disputed presidential election. In its decision, the board said Facebook users who post about government-backed armed groups known as “colectivos” should be free to say things like, “Kill those damn colectivos.”
The company asked the Oversight Board for advice on the issue last month, after moderators said they had seen an “influx” of “anti-colectivo content” since the election. Meta specifically asked for the Board’s opinion on two posts: an Instagram post aimed at colectivos that read “Go to hell! I hope they all get killed!”, and a Facebook post criticizing Venezuela’s security forces that read “Kill those damn colectivos.”
The monitoring committee said neither post violated Meta’s rules on calls for violence and both should be interpreted as “ambitious statements” from nationals of a country where state-sponsored violence threatens freedom of expression. “The targets of the ambitious violence are state-sponsored forces that have contributed to the long-term repression of civic space and other human rights violations in Venezuela, including the current post-election crisis,” the committee wrote in its decision. “In contrast, civilians have primarily been the targets of human rights violations.”
The Oversight Committee also criticized Meta’s practice of reducing the visibility of political content across its services: “The Committee is also deeply concerned that in the Venezuelan context, the Company’s policy of reducing the distribution of political content may undermine the ability of users expressing political dissent and raising awareness about the situation in Venezuela to reach the widest possible audience.” The Committee recommended that Meta adapt its policy in times of crisis “to ensure that political content, particularly related to elections and post-election protests, has the same reach as non-political content.”
The case is not the first time the Commission has weighed in on the debate over the role of political content on Meta’s apps. Earlier this year, the Commission accepted its first case over Threads posts, and the case is also expected to affect Meta’s controversial decision to limit the recommendation of political posts on its service. The Commission has yet to announce a decision on that case.
