Mohd. Aasim Saifi’s Post

Did you know Meta is restricting ‘political’ content? 🙈 🙉 🙊 Last week, our client Olivia DeRamus spoke with The Times all about Meta's recent decision to reduce the presence of political content on Instagram. This move is likely to intensify the bias around content which is considered political. With Meta's broad definition of 'political content' encompassing anything from discussions on governance and elections to broader social issues affecting communities, concerns have been raised about the potential impact on minority voices, particularly during one of the most important election years across the globe. Are certain identities inherently more 'political' than others? Reports from Human Rights Watch suggest that Meta's actions may be disproportionately silencing voices advocating for marginalised communities. This shift may impede individuals' ability to engage in constructive public discourse and participate in grassroots activism, 🌱crucial for addressing various social challenges in the UK. and globally. This facilitation of societal engagement stands as one of the paramount purposes of social platforms like Instagram. 🎙️ In the great words of DJ Khaled…Another one! 

Today, I stand both shocked and deeply ashamed as a former employee of Meta, upon reading the latest Human Rights Watch report. This isn't just another document; it's a revelation from a global authority on human rights. The report, titled "Meta’s Broken Promises: Systemic Censorship of Palestine Content on Instagram and Facebook," uncovers a disturbing pattern. It reveals how Meta’s policies have systematically silenced voices supporting Palestine and Palestinian human rights on its platforms, notably Instagram and Facebook. This issue transcends individual opinions on the Israel-Palestine conflict. It strikes at the very heart of what we cherish in democratic societies: freedom of speech and access to information. The report details over 1,050 incidents of content suppression, predominantly against peaceful pro-Palestine expression, across 60 countries. This isn't just about numbers; it's about voices unjustly stifled. As someone who once proudly associated with Meta, I find this deeply troubling. The question isn't just about Meta's policies, but about our collective commitment to free expression and the respect of human rights in the digital age. Whether you stand with Palestine, Israel, or neutrality, this report should concern you. It's a wake-up call for everyone who values democracy and free speech. We must hold Meta accountable and demand change. >> Link to the full report in the comments. #HumanRights #FreedomOfSpeech #Meta #Censorship #Palestine

News from Meta last week that they will be restricting the reach of political content means that mission driven orgs may have to keep a close eye on the performance of their organic content. Sure, we're all glad to not get overloaded with political ads, and many in the sector "stay out of politics," but mission driven orgs often work on issues or with populations that (despite our greatest efforts) have become politicized. I've experienced first hand what this can look like - when Rashidah (McCoy) Billups, MS and I were running social for our nonprofit that served refugees and displaced people, we were constantly getting dinged by meta that our ads were "of a political nature." One time, we had an ad rejected because of the imagery (the image was of a woman in a hijab ... 😤). If your org work on issues that Meta names (climate, immigration, civil and social rights, education ...), it might be time to monitor and take a look at your organic strategy. Great summary on the changes in WaPo from Taylor Lorenz and Naomi Nix #nonprofitsocialmedia #nonprofitmarketing #meta

Multiple states launch legal actions against META to safeguard youth. In a significant legal development, several states have taken proactive steps by filing lawsuits against META, a major tech giant. Their primary goal is to protect the well-being of young users, driven by mounting concerns about the impact of META's platforms on the youth. This legal move signifies a pivotal moment in the ongoing debate surrounding social media and its influence on the younger generation! #META #X80Graphics #lawsuits #SocialMedia #Youth #Newsupdates #Techgiants #Socialplatforms #DigitalMedia

It shouldn’t take an employee risking their career for us to learn how platforms like Meta operate, and what impact they’re having on our kids, communities, and democracy. This is why we need to pass KOSA and PATA. Key takeaways from former Meta engineering director Arturo Bejar's disclosures with The Wall Street Journal here: - Bejar discovered that Meta was using harm detection and classification systems that dramatically underestimated the rates that Instagram and Facebook users, especially children and teens, experienced harms like bullying, sexual harassment and predation, and exposure to eating disorder or self-harm content. - While Meta’s internal systems made the company look like a leader in ensuring user safety and satisfaction; Bejar uncovered the truth simply by asking users worldwide about their real experiences. His survey revealed that users were 100 times more likely to tell Instagram they’d witnessed bullying than Meta’s statistics indicated they should. Among users under the age of 16, 26% had a bad experience in the last week due to witnessing hostility against someone based on their race, religion or identity. More than a fifth of users felt worse about themselves after viewing others’ posts. 13% had experienced unwanted sexual advances in the past seven days. - Spurred by his own daughter's experience on Instagram, Bejar brought these revelations to the attention of Meta leadership, including Mark Zuckerberg, Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, and Instagram head Adam Mosseri. Instead of acting on Bejar’s findings, Meta ignored proposed design-focused fixes, shut down Bejar’s research, and fired most of the team behind it. Read more here:

Human rights group accuses Meta of restricting pro-Palestine speech Human Rights Watch accused Meta of repeatedly removing or restricting content supporting Palestine or Palestinian human rights even when it did not violate the platform’s rules. The group said it identified more than 1,000 of pieces of pro-Palestine content that it claims did not violate Meta’s rules but that were restricted or removed during October and November 2023 including images of injured or dead bodies in Gaza hospitals and comments saying, “Free Palestine” and “Stop the Genocide.” Meta claimed that its policies are designed to give everyone a voice while at keeping the platforms safe. Meta also mentioned the fact that the platform deliberately suppressing a certain voice is false. “Meta’s Dangerous Organizations and Individuals policy that, “understandably, the policy prohibits incitement to violence. However, it also contains sweeping bans on vague categories of speech, such as ‘praise’ and ‘support’ of ‘dangerous organizations,’”. “Meta mentioned to CNN in October that it had established “a special operations center staffed with experts, including fluent Hebrew and Arabic speakers, to closely monitor and respond to this rapidly evolving situation,” and that it was coordinating with third-party fact checkers in the region.” https://lnkd.in/d6zZQRAh Platform: CNN Author: Clare Duffy #meta #socialmediaplatforms #israelpalestineconflict #warcrimes #technews #content #humanrights

The lifetime value of a 13 y/o teen is roughly $270 according to an internal company e-mail at Meta. The shirts these youth activists wore at yesterday's senate hearing in the US refer to an ongoing lawsuit by 41 states against Meta, claiming its products are addictive for teens. After several testimonies from Meta and TikTok in recent past, this really feels like a pivotal moment where social media companies are actually being held responsible for their actions. We are proud to support - in any way we can - the important work being done by organisations like Design It For Us #HALFTHESTORY Center for Humane Technology, advocating to keep big tech accountable and strive for more humane practices. Read more about yesterday's senate hearing and the ongoing lawsuit https://lnkd.in/gxvBqZjc

My Meta Experience   Friends, Romans, countrymen (and women), lend me your ears. It's 3 a.m. as I write this, having been woken up for the old man trip to the bathroom, only to find my mind wouldn't shut off. So here goes:   On April 28th, my Facebook account was permanently banned because a supposed close friend, maryteresa1961 Ruth Nickerson, posted something that went against community standards. Desperate, I reached out to Meta. the Better Business Bureau and the Attorney General’s office. The BBB closed my case as unanswered, and the Attorney General advised consulting a private attorney. Meta didn't respond.   Anger and frustration started to build, threatening to turn inward and lead to depression. But instead of letting this bring me down, I decided to turn these lemons into lemonade.   🎥 I created a YouTube video and a free e-book to share my story. It will be on the ABLE Radio website soon. For now, I’m asking for your help:   1. If you receive a friend request from me on Facebook, Please accept it. 2. Share this story with your community. Check your close friends list with care on any Meta platform. 3. Follow AbleRadioLab.org, www.facebook.com/ABLERadio. ABLERadioLab is an exciting new venture designed to give voice to the special needs community. 4. Recommend me to your friends. 5. Provide recommendations on who I should follow on ABLE Radio Lab pages. 6. Recommend friends you know I should be following.   A special thanks to Mai Ling Chan for the encouragement during this challenging time. Your support has been invaluable.   I’m asking for your help to turn this situation into something positive.   Thank you for standing by me.   #Meta #SocialMedia #CommunitySupport #TurningLemonsIntoLemonade #Networking

"Show me the incentives, and I'll show you the outcome" Charlie Munger famously stated. The incentive? $270 profit. The outcome? probably dramatic. A study in 2019 found that adolescents spending over 3h on social media daily "faced double the risk of experiencing poor mental health outcomes, including symptoms of depression and anxiety." Meanwhile a recent survey by Gallup indicates over 50% of 13-year olds are spending an average of 4.8h on social media everyday. And mind you, these numbers are likely to be understated since they are self-reported. Actual screentime figures are probably higher than self-reported as was clear in the recent screentime report published by leading screentime app Opal Sources: - https://lnkd.in/e25ej_TE - https://lnkd.in/exzbX3Kk https://lnkd.in/erQSt3nA - https://lnkd.in/ejiRsdTx

Today, the Board overturned Meta’s decision to take down a video from Facebook showing people entering a police station in #Haiti, attempting to break into a cell holding an alleged gang member and threatening them with violence. The Board finds the video did violate Meta's rules on Violence and Incitement as there was a credible threat of offline harm to the person in the cell. However, the majority of the Board disagrees with the assessment on the application of the newsworthiness allowance in this case. Meta should have applied the newsworthiness allowance to keep up the content. The risk of harm and public interest involved in any newsworthiness analysis should be assessed at the time Meta is considering issuing the allowance, rather than at the time content is posted.     The Board is concerned about Meta’s ability to moderate content on time in Haiti during this period of heightened risk. The near three-week enforcement delay in this case appears to be down to Meta’s failure to invest enough resources in moderating content in Haiti.    On this occasion, Meta was not able to provide a timely assessment of a report from its Trusted Partner. A recent report found that Meta does not adequately resource its own teams to review content identified by Trusted Partners. Finally, the Board notes Meta failed to activate its Crisis Policy Protocol in Haiti. While Meta told the Board it already had risk-mitigation measures in place, the Board is concerned the lengthy delay in this case indicates that existing measures are inadequate. You can read the full decision below ↓ #Haiti #Violence #SocialMedia #Facebook #Instagram #HumanRights