Meta to end ban on the word 'shaheed' on oversight board's recommendations
July 2 (Reuters) -Meta Platforms META.O said on Tuesday it would lift its blanket ban on the word "shaheed", or "martyr" in English, after a year-long review by its oversight board found the social media giant's approach was "overbroad".
The company has been criticized for years over its handling of content involving the Middle East, including in a 2021 study Meta itself commissioned that found its approach had an "adverse human rights impact" on Palestinians and other Arabic-speaking users of its services.
Those criticisms have escalated since the onset of hostilities between Israel and Hamas in October.
The oversight board, which is funded by Meta but operates independently, started its review last year because the word accounted for more content removals on the company's platforms than any other single word or phrase.
Meta is the parent company of Facebook and Instagram.
The review found in March that Meta's rules on "shaheed" failed to account for the word's variety of meanings and resulted in the removal of content not aimed at praising violent actions.
Meta acknowledged the findings of the review on Tuesday and said its tests showed that removing content when "shaheed" was "paired with otherwise violating content captures the most potentially harmful content without disproportionally impacting the voice".
The oversight board welcomed the change, saying Meta's policy related to the word had led to the censoring of millions of people across its platforms.
Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
