Facebook Apparently Often Frees Celebrity Accounts And Politicians Violate Platform Rules

Facebook is accused of applying double standard rules in its platform. (photo: doc. unsplash)

JAKARTA - Facebook is reported to have released as many as 6 million accounts, in which the accounts were users of celebrities and politicians who violated a dozen social media rules.

Of course, this contradicts Mark Zuckerberg's public statement that the rules apply to everyone, without exception.

According to an internal Facebook document reported by Forbes, Tuesday, September 14, Facebook originally created a system known as "XCheck" or "cross check" that protects public figures such as politicians and celebrities from corporate rules against harassment and incitement to violence.

The document reveals that Facebook allowed Brazilian soccer player Neymar da Silva Santos Jr., to post nude photos of a woman who accused Neymar of rape, before the content was taken down.

As we said in 2018: “'Cross-check' simply means that some content from certain Pages or Profiles is given a second layer of review to make sure we've applied our policies correctly.” There aren't two systems of justice; it's an attempted safeguard against mistakes.

— Andy Stone (@andymstone) September 13, 2021

Several high-profile users who were exempt from content moderation enforcement also shared false claims, including about vaccines. They even posted Hillary Clinton's alleged role in a pedophile sex trafficking network and other outlandish claims that Facebook's own fact-checkers deemed false.

An internal review of Facebook's practices from 2019 suggested the company did the opposite in public statements. The XCheck program also includes most government officials. In 2020, at least 5.8 million users are reported to be part of XCheck.

Facebook has faced criticism from both Democrats and Republicans about what content is being left out or withdrawn. The documents are likely to raise further concerns about whether the social network enforces its rules fairly. The company set up a content supervisory board to review some of its toughest decisions.

However, Facebook spokesman Andy Stone said in 2018 via his Twitter that the program was intended to provide certain Facebook pages and profiles.

"Second layer review to ensure we have implemented our policies correctly. There are no two systems of justice; this is a safeguard against wrongdoing," Stone said as quoted by CNET.

Likewise, Facebook's supervisory board recommended that the company "be far more transparent in general, including about the management of high-profile accounts, while ensuring that its policies treat all users fairly," he said in a tweet.