NEW YORK: Meta鈥檚 oversight board on Tuesday called on the company to end its blanket ban on a common usage of the Arabic word 鈥渟haheed,鈥� or 鈥渕artyr鈥� in English, after a year-long review found the Facebook owner鈥檚 approach was 鈥渙verbroad鈥� and had unnecessarily suppressed the speech of millions of users.
The board, which is funded by Meta but operates independently, said the social media giant should remove posts containing the word 鈥渟haheed鈥� only when they are linked to clear signs of violence or if they separately break other Meta rules.
The ruling comes after years of criticism of the company鈥檚 handling of content involving the Middle East, including in a 2021 study Meta itself commissioned that found its approach had an 鈥渁dverse human rights impact鈥� on Palestinians and other Arabic-speaking users of its services.
Those criticisms have escalated since the onset of hostilities between Israel and Hamas in October. Rights groups have accused Meta of suppressing content supportive of Palestinians on Facebook and Instagram against the backdrop of a war that has killed tens of thousands of people in Gaza following Hamas鈥� deadly raids into Israel on Oct 7.
The Meta Oversight Board reached similar conclusions in its report on Tuesday, finding Meta鈥檚 rules on 鈥渟haheed鈥� failed to account for the word鈥檚 variety of meanings and resulted in the removal of content not aimed at praising violent actions.
鈥淢eta has been operating under the assumption that censorship can and will improve safety, but the evidence suggests that censorship can marginalize whole populations while not improving safety at all,鈥� Oversight Board co-chair Helle Thorning-Schmidt said in a statement.
Meta currently removes any posts using 鈥渟haheed鈥� in referring to people it designates on its list of 鈥渄angerous organizations and individuals,鈥� which includes members of Islamist militant groups, drug cartels and white supremacist organizations.
The company says the word constitutes praise for those entities, which it bans, according to the board鈥檚 report. Hamas is among the groups the company designates as a 鈥渄angerous organization.鈥�
Meta sought the board鈥檚 input on the topic last year, after starting a reassessment of the policy in 2020 but failing to reach consensus internally, the board said. It revealed in its request that 鈥渟haheed鈥� accounted for more content removals on its platforms on than any other single word or phrase.
A Meta spokesperson said in a statement that the company would review the board鈥檚 feedback and respond within 60 days.