Facebook to Create Independent Appeals Body for Content Decisions

Facebook Inc. (FB) said Thursday the company will "create a new way for people to appeal content decisions to an independent body, whose decisions would be transparent and binding."

In a blog post, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said "The purpose of this body would be to uphold the principle of giving people a voice while also recognizing the reality of keeping people safe."

The company has been facing criticism over its handling of fake news and other crises, including misinformation from Russian and other actors during the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign.

Mr. Zuckerberg wrote that the use of artificial intelligence was: "The single most important improvement in enforcing our policies," but admitted "to be clear, the state of the art in AI is still not sufficient to handle these challenges on its own."

Addressing the creation of the independent appeals body, Mr. Zuckerberg said: "Starting today, we're beginning a consultation period to address the hardest questions," which he said include how to select members of the group, how to ensure their independence and how to pick from the potentially millions of appeals that could be made.

He also said: "Over time, I believe this body will play an important role in our overall governance. Just as our board of directors is accountable to our shareholders, this body would be focused only on our community. Both are important, and I believe will help us serve everyone better over the long term."

--Write to Stephen Nakrosis at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 15, 2018 15:59 ET (20:59 GMT)

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