Examining Meta’s Cross-Check Program

<p>A little more than a year ago, in the first <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/facebook-files-xcheck-zuckerberg-elite-rules-11631541353?mod=article_inline" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">article</a> announcing the release of the Facebook Files, the documents brought out of the company by whistleblower Frances Haugen, the <em>Wall Street Journal’s</em> Jeff Horwitz reported on Cross Check, a Facebook system that “exempted high-profile users from some or all” of the platform’s rules. The program shields millions of elites from normal content moderation enforcement. While the existence of such a program was known, its scale was and perhaps still is shocking.</p><p>Following the <em>Journal</em>’s reporting and subsequent concern in the public, Facebook (now Meta) President of Global Affairs Nick Clegg <a href="https://about.fb.com/news/2021/09/requesting-oversight-board-guidance-cross-check-system/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">announced</a> the company would request a policy advisory opinion from its independent Oversight Board. 14 months later, the Oversight Board has completed its review and <a href="https://oversightboard.com/news/501654971916288-oversight-board-publishes-policy-advisory-opinion-on-meta-s-cross-check-program/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">published</a> its opinion.&nbsp;</p><p>To talk more about the opinion, the Cross Check system and the problem of content moderation more generally, I’m joined with one member of the Oversight Board, <strong>Nighat Dad, </strong>a lawyer from Pakistan and founder of the Digital Rights Foundation; and one outside observer who answered the board’s call for opinions about the Cross Check system, R Street Institute senior fellow and University of Pennsylvania Annenberg Public Policy Center distinguished research fellow <strong>Chris Riley</strong>.</p>