Meta watchdog raises 'serious questions' on anti-immigrant posts

Meta's independent content watchdog said Thursday there were "serious questions" about how the social media giant deals with anti-immigrant content, particularly in Europe.

The Oversight Board, established by Meta in 2020 and often called its "supreme court", launched a probe after seeing a "significant number" of appeals over anti-immigrant content.

The board has chosen two symbolic cases-one from Germany and the other from Poland-to assess whether Meta is following human rights law and its own policies on hate speech.


Helle Thorning-Schmidt, co-chair of the board and a former Danish prime minister, said it was "critical" to get the balance right between free speech and protection of vulnerable groups.

"The high number of appeals we get on immigration-related content from across the EU tells us there are serious questions to ask about how the company handles issues related to this, including the use of coded speech," she said in a statement.

Decisions by the board, funded by a trust set up by Meta, are not binding, though the company has promised to follow its rulings.