Hello, you have opened the last MediaBrífing newsletter before the summer break. In today’s issue you will read:
Instagram doesn’t have a problem with breast photos if they’re about cancer; another world leader must leave Facebook; how the Slovak disinformation business works; the number of fact-checkers will multiply before the elections. Illustration photo – Annie Spratt/Unsplash/CC
Meta is not good at dealing with misinformation or hate on Facebook and Instagram, but it has always been very sensitive about photos of exposed female breasts. This is partially changing – at least for posts about breast cancer.
Posts that would have been automatically deleted in the past are left online by the social network. Users can thus communicate more openly about this topic as well.
More information: The turning point came in 2020, when Instagram removed eight photos of a user in Brazil – in five images, nipples were exposed and visible, in another three the nipples were out of the frame or were covered by a hand. All the photos were meant to raise awareness about the symptoms of breast cancer.
Automatic photo systems removed on the grounds that they violated the rules on nudity and sexualized content. When the social network did not restore the photos even after an appeal, the case was taken up by the Oversight Board, which assesses disputed cases and is compared to the highest court of the social network. The board found that Instagram systems were unable to determine, that the posts were about cancer and therefore made a mistake. The social network thus interfered with freedom of speech.
What is new: The council advised Facebook and Instagram to improve their automatic image detection. The rules of social networks allow the use of nudity as long as the posts draw attention to, for example, health problems, so they should not be penalized. Now the council has informed how the situation has changed:
The social network improved the detection of images, thanks to which moderators checked in a month 2500 posts, which would previously have been automatically removed. The meta also deployed a new health content classifier, giving moderators more to review 1000 postswhich would have been removed previously as well.
This data shows how content moderation is gradually improving in some areas.
Worth noting: The social network’s rules prohibit the display of female nipples, but it is unclear how to apply them to intersex, non-binary and transgender people. The Council therefore recommended in January to change the approach and define clearer criteria.
Another world leader must leave Facebook
Hun Sen. Photo – TASR/AP
Another current decision of the Facebook Supervisory Board is worth paying attention to. She recommends that Facebook and Instagram block the profiles of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen for six months.
Autocrat Hun Sen has ruled for 38 years and is known for his radical statements and repression of the opposition and the media. He had 14 million followers on Facebook, while Cambodia has a population of 17 million.
In January 2023, Hun Sen said live on Facebook that he would gather his supporters to protest and beat up critics, and mentioned the possibility of sending “thugs” to his opponents’ homes.
The video had approx 600 thousand launches and was reported to the social network. Moderators decided that the video doesn’t break the rules. The case was also dealt with by social network experts, who came to the conclusion that although the video violated the standards, they also concluded that it had news value. In such cases, posts that violate the rules may also remain online.
Meta asked the Supervisory Board to assess the case and decide whether freedom of expression or security should come first.
The council decided that
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