Meta's Oversight Lapses: Viral Anti-Gay Video Sparks Outcry

Meta's oversight board criticized the company's failure to remove a viral video of two allegedly gay men being beaten in Nigeria. The video, violating multiple rules, remained on Facebook for five months, raising concerns about content moderation in unsupported languages.

Meta's oversight board has taken a strong stance against the company for its inaction in removing a highly controversial video depicting two men allegedly beaten for being gay. The video, originating from Nigeria, a country where homosexuality is largely criminalized, went viral and was viewed over 3.6 million times.

Despite breaking several community guidelines, the video stayed on Facebook for about five months. The board highlighted severe lapses, as it was reported multiple times and reviewed by three human moderators. It underscored the risk of the men being identified, escalating potential harm to Nigeria's LGBTQIA+ community.

The panel raised issues with Meta's language detection, as it wrongly identified the Igbo language as English or Swahili, affecting moderation efforts. Recommendations included updating community standards, improving enforcement accuracy, and ensuring language detection systems support all necessary languages for content review.

(With inputs from agencies.)