September 22, 2021

Facebook’s independent Oversight Board said on Tuesday it had demanded clarity from the tech giant about the system or the parameters it uses in reviewing content decisions relating to some prominent users.

The move came after a Wall Street Journal report accused Facebook of exempting high-profile users from some or all of the rules through a cross-checking system that includes millions of accounts, some of which are “whitelisted” (immune from Facebook’s enforcement decisions).

According to the Oversight Board on Tuesday, while it had previously asked Facebook to explain the process of how the cross-system works and the criteria it uses to add pages and accounts to the program, the board found that Facebook did not provide its criteria.

A Facebook spokesperson confirmed that the social media giant would inform the board about the system, known internally as “cross-check,” in the coming days.

For more information, read the original story in Reuters.