Facebook plans to launch its own 'Supreme Court'

To say that Facebook has had a few issues in the last couple of years would be quite an understatement. Privacy issues, security issues, government issues, the list can go on and on. However, it looks like Facebook is finally getting serious about making some changes. A part of these new changes is the establishment of something called an Oversight Board – Facebook’s version of its own kind of ‘Supreme Court’. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote a blog post explaining the rationale behind having this Oversight Board.

Zuckerberg wrote, “We are responsible for enforcing our policies every day and we make millions of content decisions every week. But ultimately I don’t believe private companies like ours should be making so many important decisions about speech on our own.” He further said that the social media network is now giving “people a way to appeal our content decisions by establishing the independent Oversight Board.”

The CEO of Facebook further explained that the company took a lot of feedback from experts from all over the world on the composition of the board. “We’ve researched similar bodies, released a draft charter, run a public consultation process, engaged in workshops and published a summary of the feedback,” said Zuckerberg.

However, if someone has a problem with any of Facebook’s policies, they will have to approach the social network first and then they will able to further appeal to the board. The board’s decision, as per Zuckerberg, will be binding, irrespective of him or anyone at Facebook disagreeing with it. “The board will use our values to inform its decisions and explain its reasoning openly and in a way that protects people’s privacy,” noted Zuckerberg.

Facebook on its part has made a lot of commitments to its Oversight Board. “We’re committing to implement the board’s content decisions and taking action regarding its advisory opinions on our policies. We’re committing to preserving and protecting the board’s ability to exercise

its independent judgement. And we’re committing to providing the board with the information and resources it needs to make informed decisions.”

On paper, it does look like Facebook is giving an option to billions of users and even other bodies to point out any issues they might have. However, it remains to be seen how it pans out in the real world. The Oversight Board is expected to be setup and be fully functional by November 2020.