Facebook oversight panel investigates special rights for celebrities

According to research by the Wall Street Journal, 5.8 million accounts were on an internal Facebook list that was subject to special rules. Now, the company's own auditors are getting involved.

The accusations are serious: Facebook is said to have systematically protected prominent users from consequences when they posted false information, insults or even nude pictures of third parties. Following a series of articles in the Wall Street Journal, the Oversight Board, the company's formally independent review body, has now become involved.

Among other things, the members want to clarify whether they were adequately informed by Facebook on the issue. Facebook must become more transparent when deciding whether content should remain on the platform or be deleted, the panel stressed in a blog entry on Tuesday.

The newspaper had published a whole series of accusations in a series of articles after analyzing internal emails from the social media company. These include the system called "cross check" or "XCheck", which had actually been set up to avoid mistakes by second-checking decisions on individual posts.

A kind of free pass for celebrities

But according to internal Facebook documents cited by the Wall Street Journal, in many cases the list acted as a kind of free pass for celebrities. They could have allowed themselves missteps that would have had consequences such as deletions or blocks for ordinary members. Facebook's rules prohibit, among other things, posts containing insults or threats, as well as violations of other people's privacy.

According to the newspaper report, at least 5.8 million Facebook users were on the exception list. Facebook had told the Oversight Board on request that it had only been used in a small number of decisions. The board is made up of legal experts, activists and former politicians and intervenes particularly in controversial decisions.

In addition to the privileges of celebrities, the "Wall Street Journal" also accuses the corporation of other failures. For example, the group downplayed the psychological consequences of Instagram, especially on female teenagers.

Facebook Vice President Nick Clegg has since contradicted the newspaper's analyses in a public blog post: He said the journalists had taken individual aspects out of context and imputed false motives to Facebook's management. The group is investing in studies to examine the effects of social media platforms on people, he said.