Oversight Board urges Meta to update media manipulation policy, calling current rules “inconsistent.” The reprimand comes amid a closely watched decision regarding a video of President Joe Biden.
The board ultimately sided with Meta regarding its decision not to remove the clip in the center of the case. The video featured footage from October 2022, when the president accompanied his granddaughter who voted in person for the first time. News images that after voting, he placed an “I Voted” sticker on his shirt. A Facebook user later shared an edited version that looped the moment, making it appear as if he was touching her chest repeatedly. The caption accompanying the clip called him a “sick pedophile” and claimed those who voted for him were “mentally ill.”
In its decision, the Oversight Board said the video did not constitute a violation of Meta's rules. manipulated media policy because it was not edited with AI tools and because the edits were “obvious and therefore unlikely to mislead” most users. “Nevertheless, the Council is concerned about the manipulated media policy in its current form, finding it inconsistent, lacking compelling justification, and inappropriately focusing on how the content was created rather than the specific harms that it causes. it aims to prevent (for example, electoral processes),” the council wrote. “Meta should “reconsider this policy quickly, given the number of elections in 2024.”
From the company only apply to videos edited with AI, but do not cover other types of editing that could be misleading. In its policy recommendations to Meta, the Oversight Board says it should draft new rules covering audio and video content. The policy should apply not only to misleading speech, but also to “content showing people doing things they didn't do.” The council says these rules should apply “regardless of the method of creation.” Additionally, the Board recommends that Meta no longer remove posts containing manipulated media if the content itself does not violate any other rules. Instead, the board suggests Meta “apply a label indicating that the content is materially overlapped and may be misleading.”
The recommendations underscore growing concern among researchers and civil society groups about how the rise of AI tools could enable a new wave of viruses. . In a statement, a Meta spokesperson said the company was “reviewing the Oversight Board's guidance and will respond publicly” within the next 60 days. Although this answer would come well before the 2024 presidential election, it is unclear when or if policy changes might occur. The Oversight Board wrote in its decision that Meta representatives indicated that the company “considers updating the manipulated media policy to respond to the evolution of new, increasingly realistic AI.”