Toni Dimaano Tech 03.06.2023 06:Mar AM EST

Meta Tweaks Controversial 'Cross-Check' System For VIPs On Facebook, Instagram

Meta has agreed to change the cross-check program for Facebook and Instagram, which exempts well-known users from the company's automated moderation system.

It announced on Friday that the majority of the suggestions made to its policy of excluding well-known users from some of its content-related policies would be implemented.

The Tech Giant Says It Will Be More Transparent In The Future

Recently, Meta decided to change the standards by which it selects participants for the program "to better account for human rights interests and equity."

In December of last year, the Oversight Board, or the "independent body," provided a total of 32 recommendations on how Meta should enhance its cross-check program.

However, only 11 of those recommendations have been entirely adopted by Meta, and 15 have only been partially adopted, Reuters writes.

The Facebook parent company also disregarded several recommendations to improve transparency and lessen prejudice towards information produced by public figures.

The company's contentious "cross check" system, which adds an additional layer of enforcement review for millions of Facebook and Instagram profiles

This includes those that are owned by celebrities, politicians, and other powerful users, which had been asked for an update by the oversight board.

The board has stated that the practice gave special treatment to the wealthy and allowed commercial interests to sway editorial decisions.

With this, the social media company should openly mark the pages and accounts of specific prominent personalities who are receiving list-based protection, according to one recommendation that Meta rejected.

The Cross-Check System Has Been Criticized Before

Cross-checking on Facebook and Instagram came under criticism when a 2021 investigation revealed that Meta had been utilizing it to conceal politicians, celebrities, and well-known athletes from its automated moderation system.

The system, according to The Verge, enables the business to offer "additional levels of human review" to high-profile people' posts in an effort to prevent unintentionally eliminating them.

The approach was condemned by the Oversight Board because, contrary to what the company had previously asserted, it seemed to be more specifically designed to address corporate concerns.

In response, Meta committed to carry out suggestions that call on it to act right away on content that has been cross-checked and "identified as potentially severely violating."

It also promised to address the backlog in the cross-check program, which the Oversight Board had discovered would allow harmful content to remain online longer than it ought to.

Meta is currently evaluating the viability of a regulation that would let figures opt out of the cross-check program, however.

Because of this, five proposals, including one to "publicly mark" some of the figures benefited by the scheme, are not being implemented.

The Oversight Board's suggestion that users be informed that it might take longer for Meta to respond to their reports of posts from participants in the cross-check program was also rejected.

Although the Oversight Board refers to Meta's answer as a "landmark moment" in a Twitter thread, it is not entirely pleased with the adjustments the business is prepared to make.