Oversight Board says Meta’s handling of parody of Harris and Walz raises ‘serious concerns’

Two weeks before the US presidential election, the Oversight Board says it has “serious concerns” about Meta’s plans to monitor content “in election situations,” and that the company risks “excessive removal of political speech” if it enforces its rules. The advice came as the board considered a lawsuit involving a mocking photo of Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.

Meta deleted the post, which was shared on Facebook in August, which showed an edited version of the movie poster from Dumb and Dumber. The first poster of the film from 1994 shows the two main characters touching their nipples through their shirts. In the modified version, the actors’ faces were replaced by Harris and Walz.

According to the Oversight Board, Meta cited its bullying and harassment laws, which include a provision that prohibits “photoshop or sexually offensive graphics.” The social network later retracted the post after it drew the attention of the Supervisory Board, and the company admitted that the funny image did not violate its rules because it did not depict sexual acts.

Despite Meta’s pushback, the board says the lawsuit raises serious issues with Meta’s handling of posts about election-related content. “This post is nothing more than a generic photo of a famous politician and is instantly recognizable,” the board wrote. “However, the company’s failure to recognize the nature of this position and handle it appropriately raises serious concerns about the systems and resources Meta has in place to make effective content decisions in such election situations.”

It’s a rare direct criticism from the Oversight Board, which released its analysis of the case in a summary judgment, which comes outside of the group’s usual list of social media company recommendations. The board has previously pushed Meta for its own rules regarding humorous content. The latest issue highlights another problem that many of the company’s users have complained about: over-enforcement of its rules.

“However, in this case, the Board highlights the overuse of Meta’s Bullying and Harassment policy regarding satire and political speech in a manner that shows disdain for gender-neutral political figures,” the board wrote. “It also presents the risk of over-reinforcing the Bullying and Harassment policy, especially when there is an election, as it may lead to excessive removal of political speech and weaken the ability to criticize government officials and political candidates, including a sarcastic way.”