Funded by Meta, the Oversight Board is an appeals court for Facebook and Instagram users. Content removal and penalties are reviewed by the body before the final decision. Now, it has shared its Q1 2022 Transparency Report. It contains overviews of the cases it has heard, its recommendations, and Meta’s final decision for each case. The Oversight Board started hearing cases in October 2020. It employs external experts that review user petitions of the content decisions made by the moderators of Facebook and Instagram.  “From January to March 2022, we estimate that users submitted nearly 480,000 cases to the Board. This represents an increase of two-thirds on the 288,440 cases submitted in the fourth quarter of 2021,” says the report. More people now question Meta’s moderators and their rulings on user content. The Oversight Board could not hear all cases. But it picks instances where the core issue is Meta’s policies. Most appeals in Q1 2022 were removals due to violence and incitement. This is followed by hate speech and bullying and harassment. Meta is now more aware of its role, as its apps are key to the spread of information. It is wary on how it could incite real world violence. The stats above reflect the improved action from the company to control risks. And Meta has agreed with most of the Board’s assessment. Meta has updated its policies based on the Board’s findings. The Board notes that Meta often takes acceptable action, even if it did not follow all its recommendations. “Our recommendations have repeatedly urged Meta to be clear with people about why it removed their posts. In response, the company is giving people using Facebook in English who break its hate speech rules more detail on what they’ve done wrong and is expanding this specific messaging to more violation types,” adds the Oversight Board. “As of Q1 2022, most of the Board’s 108 recommendations are either in progress or have been implemented by Meta in whole or in part. However, the Board continues to lack data to verify progress on or implementation of the majority of recommendations.” Read the full Oversight Board Q1 2022 Transparency Report here. Share...