Meta has been
urged to revamp community guidelines on nudity this week by an Oversight board
who believes the current rules are discriminatory to women, transgender, and
nonbinary folks.
The board
consists of 22 experts in technology and human rights law from around the world
who are unaffiliated with Meta leadership and yesterday, they released a joint
decision to challenge Instagram and Facebook's current rules.
According
to them, "the complaints were filed by a couple
who had posted photos to Instagram showing their bare chests with their nipples
covered to promote a fundraiser for top surgery. Meta moderators initially removed
both posts before eventually restoring them." The board says that the
initial removal of the posts point to "fundamental issues with Meta’s
policies,” notably the application's censorship of “female nipples” and a
clearer definition of them, specifically when it comes to breastfeeding.
The review
also cites a “high volume of public comments” from transgender, nonbinary
people, and even cisgender women, “who explained that they were personally
affected by enforcement errors.”
“This policy
is based on a binary view of gender and a distinction between male and female
bodies.” Board members felt the current societal definitions are "broader
than the stated rationale for the policy.”
“Such an
approach makes it unclear how the rules apply to intersex, non-binary and
transgender people,” the Board wrote, “and requires reviewers to make rapid and
subjective assessments of sex and gender, which is not practical when
moderating content at scale.”
The board is
recommending to Meta, Facebook, and Instagram to revise the Adult Nudity and
Sexual Activity policies with “clear, objective, rights-respecting criteria”
that don't discriminate based on sex or gender and revisions of their “sexual
solicitation” policies that prevent sex workers from openly operating on the
platforms.
Meta
"welcomes the Oversight Board's decision" and is now in the process
of reviewing their policies in an attempt to "constantly evolve our
policies to help make our platforms safer for everyone.” They now have 60 days
to issue an official response to the Board’s decision.
While we remain hopeful, Meta
could decline the requests. Time will tell.
SOURCE: PRIDE DOT COM
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