Meta Oversight Board Recommends Policy Review Over Biden Video
The Meta Oversight Board has criticized the company's existing manipulated media policy, deeming it "incoherent" and too focused on whether content was altered through artificial intelligence rather than on the potential harm it could cause. Despite this criticism, the board upheld Meta's decision to allow a video of President Joe Biden with a caption calling him a "sick pedophile" to remain on its platforms. The board found that the video did not violate Meta's manipulated media policies, which currently apply to AI-generated or significantly edited videos that make it appear a person said or did something they did not.
The board has recommended that Meta expand its policies to include all forms of manipulated media, regardless of the editing method, that portray a person taking an action they did not actually take. This includes manipulated audio and visual content. In addition, the board advised Meta to label manipulated content as "significantly altered" and potentially misleading instead of removing it, as long as it doesn't violate other harmful content policies.
The discussion around Meta's policies and their enforcement is particularly timely, as the world approaches major elections in 2024. The Oversight Board's recommendations aim to close loopholes in the company's policies that could threaten the integrity of global elections. Meta has indicated it will continue its practices during the 2024 elections and will begin labeling AI-generated advertisements. The board's scrutiny comes in the wake of previous controversies, such as the slowed-down video of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, which raised concerns about the company's approach to handling misleading media content.
