"It is crucial that we continue to ask questions on cross-check (xcheck), and publish the answers for people to see. Transparency is essential for social media platforms," the Oversight Board said in a blog post where it announced that it has reached out to Facebook to request they provide further clarity on exceptions made for high-profile users. What is Facebook's cross-check program? On September 13, Wall Street Journal published an exposé revealing that high-profile users on Facebook are exempt from some or all of the social media giant’s rules as part of a company programme known as cross-check or Xcheck. The program was initially intended as a quality control measure for action taken against high-profile accounts, but it ended up granting immunity to public figures from action, including in cases where their posts amounted to harassment or incited violence, the report stated. Xcheck has allowed posts that violated its rules to be viewed at least 16.4 billion times, WSJ revealed. In the past, Facebook has routinely claimed that all users on its platforms are held to the same standards. But the WSJ report shows that when it comes to enforcing Facebook’s guidelines, the company maintains explicit segregation between ordinary users and VIPs. "These disclosures have drawn renewed attention to the seemingly inconsistent way that the company makes decisions, and why greater transparency and independent oversight of Facebook matter so much for users." - Oversight Board Do you think there should be exceptions for high profile users? Leave a comment Did Facebook mislead its own Oversight…
