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OVERSIGHT BOARD UPHOLDS META'S DECISION IN "ARMENIAN PRISONERS OF WAR VIDEO"
CASE | OVERSIGHT BOARD

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OVERSIGHT BOARD UPHOLDS META'S DECISION IN "ARMENIAN PRISONERS OF WAR VIDEO"
CASE

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2023年6月

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The Oversight Board has upheld Meta’s decision to leave up a Facebook post that
included a video depicting identifiable prisoners of war and add a “mark as
disturbing” warning screen to the video. The Board found that Meta correctly
applied a newsworthiness allowance to the post, which would have otherwise been
removed for violating its Coordinating Harm and Promoting Crime Community
Standard. However, the Board recommends that Meta strengthen internal guidance
around reviewing this type of content and develop a protocol for preserving and
sharing evidence of human rights violations with the appropriate authorities.

About the case

In October 2022, a Facebook user posted a video on a page that identifies itself
as documenting alleged war crimes committed by Azerbaijan against Armenians in
the context of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. This conflict reignited in
September 2020 and escalated into fighting in Armenia in September 2022, leaving
thousands dead, and hundreds of people missing.

The video begins with a user-inserted age warning that it is only suitable for
people over the age of 18, and an English text, which reads “Stop Azerbaijani
terror. The world must stop the aggressors.” The video appears to depict a scene
where prisoners of war are being captured.

It shows several people who appear to be Azerbaijani soldiers searching through
rubble, with their faces digitally obscured with black squares. They find people
in the rubble who are described in the caption as Armenian soldiers, whose faces
are left unobscured and identifiable. Some appear to be injured, others appear
to be dead. The video ends with an unseen person, potentially the person
filming, continuously shouting curse words and using abusive language in Russian
and Turkish at an injured soldier sitting on the ground.

In the caption, which is in English and Turkish, the user states that the video
depicts Azerbaijani soldiers torturing Armenian prisoners of war. The caption
also highlights the July 2022 gas deal between the European Union and Azerbaijan
to double gas imports from Azerbaijan by 2027.

Key findings

The Board finds that although the content in this case violates the Coordinating
Harm and Promoting Crime Community Standard, Meta correctly applied the
newsworthiness allowance to allow the content to remain on Facebook, and the
contents of the video required a “mark as disturbing” warning screen under the
Violent and Graphic Content Community Standard. These decisions were consistent
with Meta’s values and human rights responsibilities.

The case raises important questions about Meta’s approach to content moderation
in conflict situations, where revealing identities and locations of prisoners of
war could undermine their dignity or expose them to immediate harm. Concerns
regarding human dignity are acute in situations where prisoners are shown in
degrading or inhumane circumstances. At the same time, such exposure can inform
public debate and raise awareness of potential mistreatment, including
violations of international human rights and international humanitarian law. It
can also build momentum for action that protects rights and ensures
accountability. Meta is in a unique position to assist in the preservation of
evidence that may be of relevance in prosecuting international crimes and
supporting human rights litigation.

The scale and speed at which imagery of prisoners of war can be shared via
social media complicates the task of resolving these competing interests. Given
the acute harms and risks facing prisoners of war, the Board finds that Meta’s
default rule prohibiting the posting of information that could reveal the
identities or locations of prisoners of war is consistent with the company’s
human rights responsibilities under the UN Guiding Principles of Business and
Human Rights (UNGPs, commentary to Principle 12). These responsibilities are
heightened during armed conflict and must be informed by the rules of
international humanitarian law. The Board agrees with Meta that the public
interest value in keeping the content on the platform with a warning screen
outweighed the risk to the safety and dignity of the prisoners of war.

The Oversight Board’s decision

The Oversight Board upholds Meta’s decision to leave the post on Facebook with a
“mark as disturbing” warning screen.

The Board also recommends that Meta:

 * Develop a protocol to preserve and, where appropriate, share with competent
   authorities, information to assist in investigations and legal processes to
   remedy or prosecute atrocity crimes or grave human rights violations.
 * Provide further guidance to reviewers and escalation teams to better inform
   the newsworthiness of escalation and assessment of content revealing the
   identity or locations of prisoners of war.
 * Add an example of content that revealed the identity or location of prisoners
   of war but was left up due to the public interest, to its public explanation
   of the newsworthiness allowance in the Transparency Center, in order to
   provide greater clarity to users.
 * Publicly share the protocol on evidence preservation related to atrocity
   crimes and grave human rights violations.

For further information

To read the full decision, click here.

To read a synopsis of public comments for this case, please click the attachment
below.


ATTACHMENTS



Public comments appendix

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