Facebook to give more clarity on how it handles satirical content

The move follows a case appealed to the Oversight Board by someone on Facebook about a comment with a meme regarding the Turkish government.

Earlier this month, the Oversight Board upheld Facebook’s decision to suspend former U.S. President Donald Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts following his praise for people involved in violent at the Capitol in January.

(Subscribe to our Today's Cache newsletter for a quick snapshot of top 5 tech stories. Click here to subscribe for free.)

Facebook Inc said it will be more transparent about how it aims to handle satirical posts on the platform, following a recommendation by the Oversight Board.

The move comes after the independent governing body examined a case appealed by someone on Facebook, regarding a comment with a meme depicting

Turkey having to choose between "The Armenian Genocide is a lie" and "The Armenians were terrorists who deserved it."

The social network took down the comment for violating the company's hate speech policy. "We do not allow hate speech on Facebook, even in the context of satire, because it creates an environment of intimidation and exclusion, and in some cases, may promote real-world violence," Facebook said in a statement.

However, the Oversight Board overturned Facebook's decision last month stating that the comment could be covered by the social network's satire exception which is not included in the Community Standards. Facebook was asked to reinstate the comment.

Facebook’s Oversight Board explained

Facebook said it will also initiate a review of identical content with parallel context to provide clarity on what it considers satire. "If we determine that we have the technical and operational capacity to take action on that content as well, we will do so promptly," the company added.

Earlier this month, the Oversight Board upheldFacebook's decision to suspend former U.S. President Donald Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts following his praise for people involved in violent at the Capitol in January. But, it also criticised the platform's open-ended nature of the suspension, stating that "it was not appropriate for Facebook to impose the indeterminate and standardless penalty of indefinite suspension."