Since its inception , Facebook has been ruled more or less like an autocracy , with its absolute majority shareholder , who also happens to be CEO , reigning supreme . As Facebook chronicler Steven Levywrote in Wiredearlier this year : “ At Facebook , Zuck ’s word is law . ”
But after 16 year of right-down authority , Mark Zuckerberg will soon see some of his company ’s most extremely - publicized decision picked apart by a semi - independent organic structure of Facebook ’s own creative activity . On Wednesday , we study the “ Facebook Oversight Board ” will include a mix of noteworthy journalists , attorneys and activists , such as ( Chopin player ) Alan Rusbridger , the former editor of The Guardian , and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Tawakkol Karman , call “ Mother of Revolution ” by her fellow Yemeni .
In all , Facebook revealed the public figure of 20 panel members : ten valet de chambre and ten women seemingly alike only in that they ’re all well - credentialed people . They otherwise defend a diverse , if not blue-ribbon , pool of juridical expertness and political apprehension ; from Pakistani lawyerNighat Dad , who is a noted internet and women ’s right wing activist , to the former U.S. appellate court justice Michael McConnell , whose expansive legal scholarship is considered stanchly conservative . Each has a reputation in the arena of human right , evolve either through a life-time of defending it or by help to shape their country ’s laws around it .
Photo: (Getty)
https://gizmodo.com/facebooks-ftc-settlement-is-officially-a-train-wreck-1843043631
Only 25 percent of the board get along from Facebook ’s nursing home , the United States . Twenty percent of members are from Europe and 15 percent are from Asia Pacific & Oceania . Ten percent belong to each major subregion of the Continent , including Central & South Asia ; the Middle East & North Africa ; Sub - Saharan Africa ; and Latin America & the Caribbean .
Only two of the card members , Facebook notes , are programmers .
Today ’s announcement , which is more than two years in the making , come after a lengthy selection processdescribed by Levy in Januaryas a “ heavy serial publication of meetings , workshop , and conferences , ” held not only in Menlo Park , but Singapore , Nairobi , and Berlin . A sports meeting in New York City , he wrote , included a simulated discussion in which the board weighed whether Facebook had overstepped in taking down a reported post .
Said to convoke for the first time this fall at the earliest , the gameboard will eventually consist of up to 40 members who will reportedly work only part - time , and it will seldom encounter in person . ( It is still assessing how the global pandemic will touch on operations , it says . ) Still , it ’s believed that the board will be a really disruptive force when it comes to Zuckerberg ’s most oft - drag through the mud views , including his controversial determination last twelvemonth togive safe harbor to disinformation artist , allow they ’re politically - oriented and have money to fire .
Whether the board ’s “ terminal and binding decisions ” will be irrevocable and unfeignedly enforced remains to be see . Civil right leader have long criticise Facebook ’s inability to follow through , despite its hope , platitudes , and we - can - do - effective - isms . Regardless of how this experiment unfolds , absolute majority ascendence is still majority controller .
In a statement , Facebook ’s lapse committee , which , for whatever it ’s worth , hasits own websiteseparate from Facebook ’s domain , says it is practice “ to upholding freedom of saying within the framework of external norms of human rights . ” It go away on to claim it “ will make decision based on these principles , and the impact on user and society without regard to Facebook ’s economic , political or reputational interests . ”
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