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Meta's Oversight Board wants your thoughts on Facebook's VIP policy

The Oversight Board is opening up public comments in its review of Facebook's cross-check system.

The Meta logo displayed on a sscreen above a smartphone showing a collection of reaction emoji

Meta's Oversight Board wants public input on cross-check.

Photo: Fritz Jorgensen/iStock Editorial / Getty Images Plus

The Meta Oversight Board is in the process of reviewing cross-check, Meta's controversial system of vetting posts by high-profile users. On Thursday, the Oversight Board opened that review up to public comments.

The cross-check program came to light as part of The Wall Street Journal's Facebook Files project, which was based on disclosures from whistleblower Frances Haugen. The Journal's reporting uncovered a two-tier system of policy enforcement at Facebook, through which celebrities, journalists, politicians and other prominent users are often afforded slower or more lenient enforcement for content that violates Facebook's rules.

Following public outcry, Meta asked the Oversight Board for help reviewing the process, and the board accepted the request. Now, the board is asking the public to chime in on questions including how Meta should balance the need for fairness with the need for flexibility in the application of its rules, how Meta could improve transparency of the system or whether a system like this is even needed.

The board is accepting comments until Jan. 14, 2022 and will issue an advisory opinion some time after that.

Issie Lapowsky

Issie Lapowsky ( @issielapowsky) is Protocol's chief correspondent, covering the intersection of technology, politics, and national affairs. She also oversees Protocol's fellowship program. Previously, she was a senior writer at Wired, where she covered the 2016 election and the Facebook beat in its aftermath. Prior to that, Issie worked as a staff writer for Inc. magazine, writing about small business and entrepreneurship. She has also worked as an on-air contributor for CBS News and taught a graduate-level course at New York University's Center for Publishing on how tech giants have affected publishing.

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