Overturned
Speech Against Femicide
August 1, 2024
A user appealed Meta’s decision to remove a drawn image of Mexican women’s rights activist Yesenia Zamudio, which includes a quote from one of her speeches in which she sought justice for her murdered daughter and other female victims of violence.
Summary decisions examine cases in which Meta has reversed its original decision on a piece of content after the Board brought it to the company's attention and include information about Meta's acknowledged errors. They are approved by a Board Member panel, rather than the full Board, do not involve public comments and do not have precedential value for the Board. Summary decisions directly bring about changes to Meta's decisions, providing transparency on these corrections, while identifying where Meta could improve its enforcement.
Summary
A user appealed Meta’s decision to remove a drawn image of Mexican women’s rights activist Yesenia Zamudio, which includes a quote from one of her speeches in which she sought justice for her murdered daughter and other female victims of violence. After the Board brought the appeal to Meta’s attention, the company reversed its original decision and restored the post.
About the Case
In March 2024, a Facebook user posted a drawn image of Yesenia Zamudio, a Mexican mother whose daughter was killed in 2016, in what authorities believe to be murder. The quote by Zamudio in the post’s image says, in Spanish: "Whoever wants to break something, break it, whoever wants to burn something, burn it, and if you don't, then don't interfere." The image is accompanied by a caption in which the user is praising Yesenia Zamudio's fight for justice. The quote by Zamudio and videos of her speeches have been widely shared on social media. Similar stories were behind demonstrations against femicide, murders committed against women, in Mexico.
Meta initially removed the user’s post from Facebook under its Violence and Incitement Community Standard, which prohibits threats of violence, defined as “statements or visuals representing an intention, aspiration, or call for violence against a target.”
In their appeal to the Board, the user stated that the phrase was used by a woman who fought for justice for her daughter, and that the image was used to show who the woman was.
After the Board brought this case to Meta’s attention, the company determined that the statement by Yesenia Zamudio is “vague and non-specific and does not meet the standard for removal under our Violence and Incitement or any other policy.” The company then concluded that removal of the image was incorrect and it restored the content to Facebook.
Board Authority and Scope
The Board has authority to review Meta's decision following an appeal from the user whose content was removed (Charter Article 2, Section 1; Bylaws Article 3, Section 1).
When Meta acknowledges that it made an error and reverses its decision on a case under consideration for Board review, the Board may select that case for a summary decision (Bylaws Article 2, Section 2.1.3). The Board reviews the original decision to increase understanding of the content moderation process, reduce errors and increase fairness for Facebook, Instagram and Threads users.
Significance of Case
This case is an example of over-enforcement of Meta’s Violence and Incitement policy that suppresses users’ freedom of expression. The company should prioritize reducing enforcement errors like the one in this case given its impact on the users’ ability to protest against femicide, among other concerning social or political events.
The Board has issued several recommendations regarding Meta’s Violence and Incitement policy. These include a recommendation to “err on the side of issuing scaled allowances where (i) this is not likely to lead to violence; (ii) when potentially violating content is used in protest contexts; and (iii) where public interest is high. Meta should ensure that their internal process to identify and review content trends around protests that may require context-specific guidance to mitigate harm to freedom of expression, such as allowances or exceptions, are effective,” ( Iran Protest Slogan, recommendation no. 2). This is a recommendation that Meta reported as implemented without publishing information to demonstrate this.
The Board has also recommended Meta to add to the public-facing language of its Violence and Incitement Community Standard that the company interprets the policy to allow content containing statements with “neutral reference to a potential outcome of an action or an advisory warning,” and content that “condemns or raises awareness of violent threats,” ( Russian Poem, recommendation no. 1). This is a recommendation for which Meta demonstrated partial implementation through published information.
Decision
The Board overturns Meta’s original decision to remove the content. The Board acknowledges Meta’s correction of its initial error once the Board brought the case to the company’s attention.
