Meta’s Oversight Board on Wednesday overturned Facebook’s decision to remove a meme that poked fun on the Democratic presidential ticket as characters from the hit film “Dumb and Dumber.”
Mark Zuckerberg-led Facebook — which famously censored The Post’s Hunter Biden laptop coverage — took down a post in August that photoshopped the faces of Kamala Harris and her running mate Tim Walz onto those of the 1994 movie’s stars, Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels.
The doctored movie poster, showing Harris and Walz “grabbing one another’s nipples through their clothing,” was flagged for violating Facebook’s policy against bullying and harassment, which bars “derogatory sexualized photoshop or drawings,” in response to the Oversight Board’s review.
The user appealed to the Oversight Board, which reviews Meta’s content moderation decisions. After being approached by the board, Meta restored the post.
The Oversight Board – which sparked outage last month after determining the anti-Israel phrase “from the river to the ocean” doesn’t constitute hate speech – said Wednesday the meme was “nothing greater than a commonplace satirical image of outstanding politicians and is immediately recognizable as such.”
The board didn’t publish a picture of the user’s original post or meme, but similar versions of the meme that matched its description were viewable online.
In its summary of the case, the board flagged concerns that Meta’s “over-enforcement” of the bullying and harassment policy within the context of an election “may result in the excessive removal of political speech and undermine the flexibility to criticize government officials and political candidates, including in a sarcastic manner.”
“Protecting social media users’ right to free speech is a core principle for the Oversight Board. The overwhelming majority of our decisions are to ‘leave up’ or restore content that was removed by Meta,” Oversight Board Co-Chair Michael McConnell said in a press release.
“Platforms must be a spot where political debate and discussion can flourish, particularly during elections, protests, and other social movements,” McConnell added. “The Board will proceed holding Meta accountable to make sure its policies and enforcement are applied fairly.”
The Oversight Board issued a “summary decision” on the case, which is described as an example wherein “Meta has reversed its original decision on a chunk of content after the board brought it to the corporate’s attention.”
When reached for comment, a Meta spokesperson confirmed that the corporate has reinstated the post.
“We mistakenly removed this post but restored it after the difficulty was dropped at our attention,” the spokesperson said in a press release.
Meta has faced intense criticism over its content moderation practices in recent times.
A remorseful Zuckerberg sparked an uproar in August after he admitted that the Biden-Harris administration had pressured Facebook to suppress COVID-related content throughout the height of the pandemic, including lighthearted memes and satire.
Elsewhere, the advisory board, which is funded by Meta but claims to be independent, has recently faced questions on its impartiality.
As The Post reported, several members of the 21-member board had espoused views critical of Israel’s actions in Gaza in recent times.
Last month, the advisory board determined that Facebook and Instagram users can use the slogan “from the river to the ocean” as long as they should not glorifying Hamas or calls for violence.
The slogan refers back to the idea of a Palestinian state stretching across the land in between the Jordan River and Mediterranean Sea – the land currently controlled by Israel.
Several outstanding Jewish groups condemned the board’s decision. The Combat Antisemitism Movement called the determination “absurd” and said it might fuel the spread of antisemitism online.
Meta’s Oversight Board on Wednesday overturned Facebook’s decision to remove a meme that poked fun on the Democratic presidential ticket as characters from the hit film “Dumb and Dumber.”
Mark Zuckerberg-led Facebook — which famously censored The Post’s Hunter Biden laptop coverage — took down a post in August that photoshopped the faces of Kamala Harris and her running mate Tim Walz onto those of the 1994 movie’s stars, Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels.
The doctored movie poster, showing Harris and Walz “grabbing one another’s nipples through their clothing,” was flagged for violating Facebook’s policy against bullying and harassment, which bars “derogatory sexualized photoshop or drawings,” in response to the Oversight Board’s review.
The user appealed to the Oversight Board, which reviews Meta’s content moderation decisions. After being approached by the board, Meta restored the post.
The Oversight Board – which sparked outage last month after determining the anti-Israel phrase “from the river to the ocean” doesn’t constitute hate speech – said Wednesday the meme was “nothing greater than a commonplace satirical image of outstanding politicians and is immediately recognizable as such.”
The board didn’t publish a picture of the user’s original post or meme, but similar versions of the meme that matched its description were viewable online.
In its summary of the case, the board flagged concerns that Meta’s “over-enforcement” of the bullying and harassment policy within the context of an election “may result in the excessive removal of political speech and undermine the flexibility to criticize government officials and political candidates, including in a sarcastic manner.”
“Protecting social media users’ right to free speech is a core principle for the Oversight Board. The overwhelming majority of our decisions are to ‘leave up’ or restore content that was removed by Meta,” Oversight Board Co-Chair Michael McConnell said in a press release.
“Platforms must be a spot where political debate and discussion can flourish, particularly during elections, protests, and other social movements,” McConnell added. “The Board will proceed holding Meta accountable to make sure its policies and enforcement are applied fairly.”
The Oversight Board issued a “summary decision” on the case, which is described as an example wherein “Meta has reversed its original decision on a chunk of content after the board brought it to the corporate’s attention.”
When reached for comment, a Meta spokesperson confirmed that the corporate has reinstated the post.
“We mistakenly removed this post but restored it after the difficulty was dropped at our attention,” the spokesperson said in a press release.
Meta has faced intense criticism over its content moderation practices in recent times.
A remorseful Zuckerberg sparked an uproar in August after he admitted that the Biden-Harris administration had pressured Facebook to suppress COVID-related content throughout the height of the pandemic, including lighthearted memes and satire.
Elsewhere, the advisory board, which is funded by Meta but claims to be independent, has recently faced questions on its impartiality.
As The Post reported, several members of the 21-member board had espoused views critical of Israel’s actions in Gaza in recent times.
Last month, the advisory board determined that Facebook and Instagram users can use the slogan “from the river to the ocean” as long as they should not glorifying Hamas or calls for violence.
The slogan refers back to the idea of a Palestinian state stretching across the land in between the Jordan River and Mediterranean Sea – the land currently controlled by Israel.
Several outstanding Jewish groups condemned the board’s decision. The Combat Antisemitism Movement called the determination “absurd” and said it might fuel the spread of antisemitism online.
