Translating and Developing International Human Rights Law in the Online Sphere: The Role of Meta's Oversight Board

Abstract

This chapter investigates the role of the Oversight Board in translating and developing international human rights law in the context of content moderation. Starting with situating the origin of the Oversight Board within the wider context of the emergence of international human rights law as a dominant framework for regulating content moderation matters, the chapter illustrates how the Board established its role and authority as a translator of international human rights standards in the online sphere. The chapter then provides an analysis of how the Board is applying article 19 ICCPR on the right to freedom of expression in its own decisions. The chapter demonstrates that the Board has illustrated how international human rights can be molded and interpreted to address human rights issues raised by new technologies. In some instances, however, the Board departed from human rights standards but failed to live up to its mission of explaining why Meta's human rights responsibilities differed from States' human rights obligations.

Keywords: Oversight Board, freedom of expression, content moderation, private actors, interpretation