Meta oversight board criticises failure to remove clip of men ‘beaten up for being gay’
Meta’s failure to remove a graphic viral video was found to have put the alleged gay men in Nigeria at risk. (Getty Images)
Meta’s oversight board has criticised the company for its failure to remove a graphic video which showed two men in Nigeria who appeared to have been attacked for being gay.
The social media company, which owns Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Threads, received findings from its own oversight board expressing “serious concerns” of “systemic failings” on Tuesday (15 October).
The video, posted in Nigeria, where same-sex relationships are criminalised and LGBTQ+ individuals face significant restrictions on their rights, showed two bloodied men who had seemingly been tied up and “beaten for allegedly being gay”.
In the Nigerian language of Igbo, one man, who seemed to have been coerced into giving his name, told an interrogating crowd that he was beaten for having sex with another man.
Video found to have posed ‘immediate harm’
Meta’s oversight board found that allowing the video – which violated four community standards – to remain on Facebook for five months posed “a risk of immediate harm to the men by exposing their identities, given the hostile environment for LGBTQIA+ individuals in Nigeria.”
In the video, which was posted in December, the user included an English caption mocking the men. Two months later, it had attracted 3.6 million views.
The ruling noted that the “immediate” damage was “impossible to undo”.
The video was reported several times and reviewed by human moderators, who decided it did not violate the platform’s rules.
The board said the case revealed “systemic failings around enforcement,” and recommended that Meta update its co-ordinating harm and promoting crime community standard rule that does not permit individuals alleged to be members of an outing-risk group to be identified. The content also broke rules on hate speech, bullying and harassment, and violent and graphic content.
Meta was also advised to look into the handling of unsupported languages and ensure translations were accurate.
In response, Meta has said the post was “left up in error”. It confirmed that the Board’s decisions, once it has finished deliberating, will be implemented.
In March, a GLAAD report found that the social media company was failing to moderate “extreme anti-trans hate”, despite transphobia being banned under hateful-content policies.
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