Facebook sets up $130m Trust Fund,appoints 3 Africans

Facebook has set up the Board of financial independence, which is guaranteed by the establishment of a $130 million trust fund that is completely independent of Facebook, which will fund its operations and cannot be revoked.

Similarly, an oversight Board focused on addressing some of the most significant content moderation decisions on Facebook and Instagram that are referred by both users and Facebook has been set up.

The Oversight Board will begin hearing cases in the coming months.

This decision is coming against the backdrop of some criticisms which have arisen in some quarters overtime regarding content, advertisements, etc., on either Facebook and Instagram.

Initially, users will be able to appeal to the Board in cases where Facebook has removed their content.

Over the following months, the Board will also be able to review appeals from users who want Facebook to remove content, including advertising.

On Thursday, May 7, 2020; Julie Owono, a digital rights advocate and Executive Director of Internet Sans Frontières from Cameroon, Maina Kiai, a human rights activist and Director of Human Rights Watch’s Global Alliances and Partnerships programme from Kenya, and Afia Asantewaa Asare-Kyei, a human rights lawyer and Program Manager at the Open Society Initiative for West Africa from Senegal, Ghana and South Africa, were appointed as Board Members to the newly-created Oversight Board.

The Oversight Board will review certain content decisions by Facebook and Instagram and make binding decisions based on respect for freedom of expression and human rights.

They will tackle increasingly complex and contentious debates about what types of content should and should not be permitted on Facebook and Instagram and who should decide.

By constitution, it will prioritise cases that potentially impact many users, are of critical importance to public discourse, or raise questions about Facebook’s policies. Decisions made by the Board must be implemented by Facebook, as long as they do not violate the law.

Oversight Board Members are independent of the company, funded by an independent trust and cannot be removed by Facebook based on their decisions.

“Preserving the free flow of information is a major issue in our contemporary societies,” aid Julie Owono. “I come from Cameroon, I grew up in Russia, studied in France, I am currently in the USA, this journey has reinforced my conviction that without freedoms, without the right to express oneself, to receive or impart information, there can’t be true and profound progress. It is an honour for me to serve this cause, within the Oversight Board.”

“We have been talking for a long time about creating some kind of independent governance structure for making big companies more accountable on some of the most important decisions they make,” said Maina Kiai. State regulation is important, and I think we need to make progress there too, but I think the Board is an exciting experiment and I’m excited to be part of it,” Kiai added.

“The very act of creating this Board shows Facebook has taken the criticism levelled against it seriously and I hope my membership can help address some of these criticisms,” said Afia Asantewaa Asare-Kyei. I am particularly focused on the Board’s role in improving transparency and accountability, and creating an appeals process where people can bring their content issues. I feel strongly that the Board needs to be truly representative, not just in terms of geography, but age, subject matter and breadth of issues covered as well,” added Asare-Kyei.

Owono, Kiai and Asare-Kyei will work in collaboration with 17 other Members who speak over 27 languages and have diverse professional, cultural, political, and religious backgrounds and viewpoints. Over time the Board will grow to around 40 Members.