Case Description
In December 2023, a Facebook user posted a video in Igbo showing two men who appear to have been beaten. Both men are sitting on the ground, near to a pole and a rope, suggesting they may have been tied up, and are heavily bleeding. There are several other people around, asking the men on the ground questions. The person recording the video asks about the violence and the reasons behind it. One of the men shares his name and says he was beaten because he was having sex with another man. They are both visibly frightened and, at one point, one of the men is kicked by one of the people standing around. The user who posted this video added a caption in English saying that both men were caught having sex and are married. The user’s account is located in a country in which same-sex relationships are criminalized.
The content was viewed about 3.6 million times, received about 9,000 reactions and 8,000 comments, and was shared about 5,000 times. After it was posted, 92 users reported the content 112 times between December 2023 and February 2024, the majority under Meta’s Violence and Incitement and Hate Speech policies. Several reports were reviewed by human moderators who decided the content did not violate any of the Community Standards and therefore should remain on the platform. One of the users appealed Meta’s decision to keep the content up. Following another human review, Meta again decided the content did not violate any of its rules. However, after the Board brought the case to Meta’s attention, the company reviewed the post under its Coordinating Harm and Promoting Crime policy, removing it from Facebook. While this type of violation can result in a standard strike against the user who posted the content, Meta did not apply it in this case because the content was posted more than 90 days before any enforcement action was taken. Meta’s policy states it does not apply standard strikes to accounts of users whose content violations are older than 90 days.
The Board selected this case to assess Meta’s enforcement of content, under the Coordinating Harm and Promoting Crime policy, which exposes the identity of at-risk people in a region where LGBTQIA+ people are particularly vulnerable to harm. The Board is particularly interested in Meta’s enforcement mechanisms in countries that have criminalized same-sex relationships. This case falls within the Board’s strategic priorities of Hate Speech Against Marginalized Groups and Gender.
The Board would appreciate public comments that address:
- Violence against LGBTQIA+ people in West Africa by state and non-state actors, and risks associated with the exposure of people’s sexual orientation and/or gender identity.
- The impact of the criminalization of same-sex relationships on LGBTQIA+ people, their civic engagement and freedom of expression.
- The impact of this criminalization and other local laws in West Africa on the work conducted by human rights organizations, advocacy groups and journalists in this space.
- The importance of Meta’s platforms, and social media more broadly, to communication, mobilization and awareness-raising among LGBTQIA+ people in West Africa.
As part of its decisions, the Board can issue policy recommendations to Meta. While recommendations are not binding, Meta must respond to them within 60 days. As such, the Board welcomes public comments proposing recommendations that are relevant to this case.
Comments
être homosexuel dans certains pays d'Afrique subsaharienne c'est s'exposer involontairement à la mort. C'est s'exposer au rejet (familial, social, religieux), aux discriminations, à la violence (physique, verbale, psychologique), aux arrestations et parfois même à la condamnation à de lourdes peines de prison. Les personnes homosexuelles sont tellement rejetées que cela a un impact même sur leur citoyenneté active. La répression de l'homosexualité entraîne un repli sur soi qui coupe les personnes homosexuelles de tout, préférant se regrouper en communauté. Du coup les personnes homosexuelles sont en détresse scolaire, en détresse sociale, et sont exposées à toutes sortes d'abus. la situation est encore pire lorsque l'on se trouve en face de personnes transgenres. Témoin la condamnation de deux femmes transgenres au Cameroun (copie jointe de la note de position du REDHAC) à cinq ans de prison et 200.000 FCFA d'amende.
il nous semble essentiel, voire nécessaire de sensibiliser l'opinion sur les violences que subissent les personnes LGBTQIA et leurs défenseurs, exposer les violences auxquelles ils font face, ainsi que leurs assaillants afin que PLUS JAMAIS CA!
Meta ne devrait pas prêter le flanc à toutes ces personnes qui veulent cacher ces réalités, mais plutôt mettre cela en lumière et mettre un accent particulier sur le respect de la vie humaine et la vie privée.
My organization, Parity, works directly with LGBTQia+ individuals worldwide, including West Africa. We work especially in the context of FoRB and IRF violations (freedom of religion or belief and international religious freedom) and in partnership with global organizations, including FoRB and IRF NGOs and government agencies.
Our LGBTQia+ connections in West Africa and in Africa, broadly, are directly impacted by social media, sometimes beneficially (networking), but much more often the impact is threatening and worse. Every negative social media post, from simple homophobia and transphobia, up to the images shared in this case, have a directly detrimental impact on LGBTQia+ persons. These are people already at risk of hate attacks, both verbal and physical. The threat is so severe that even a call for comment causes fear. The LGBTQia+ individuals we have asked to provide comments are loathe to do so out of fear for their safety. Please act in ways that promote safety for the most vulnerable. With our thanks, Rev. Dr. Marian Edmonds-Allen and the Board and stakeholders of Parity.
There is a tendency to insert the regional sensibilities of the reviewer of content. The decision to remove is subjective. This fact leads to an egregious error in judgment, in my opinion.
The current political climate in the United States is one of censorship and cancelling of anyone who makes a disparaging remark about gay people, and the concomitant refusal to censor or police comments made by LGBTQIA+ activists. I object to this line of reasoning alone because it alienates the 50% of the people in the US that may have a religious or moral objection to having LGBTQIA+ propaganda thrown in their face without the ability to object.
When you apply this regional subjective judgment habit to those places on earth that have laws and public sentiment against LGBTQIA+ people, you endanger their lives. Those places are not going to be swayed by "censoring conservative speech". Most Muslim countries actually kill people who are gay. The public are allowed to execute them with impunity. To display the violence associated with LGBTQIA+ on social media will not engender sympathy, it will incite the populace to more violence against them. The political persuasion of the monitor be damned.
Facebook should have content monitors familiar with the countries they monitor, seriously. If Facebook is being used in Egypt, or Gaza, or Jordan for instance, there should be a total ban on posting anything and everything about LGBTQIA+ period. The culture of those places do not condone gay sex, and they celebrate violence against gay people.
Given the simple fact that violence is a very common occurrence across the globe for various reasons, I believe the video here in question should be allowed. This simply interviews the two victims, not show the beatings. We need to be aware of this type of action.