A UN human rights expert * asked Facebook on Wednesday to take into account the rights of ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities when making decisions, especially those relating to hate speech.
The United Nations special rapporteur on minority issues, Fernand de Varennes, applauded the recent news that the Supervisory Board of Facebook, the internal regulatory body of the social network that reviews moderation decisions, has accepted its first six appeals cases against content removal decisions.
The famous chief executive of the social network, Mark Zuckerberg, compares this internal body that reviews moderation decisions within his company as “Facebook’s own Supreme Court” ·
De Varennes recalled that “the most likely target of online hate speech is minorities, and we know that these anti-minority demonstrations often cause serious damage in the real world, and can even lead to ethnic cleansing and genocide“, he highlighted.
For this reason, he considered incitement to hatred on the Internet “as one of the most important challenges today for human dignity and life.”
How should minority rights be protected?
In relation to the rights of minorities, Varennes points out that the Supervisory Board should take into account the article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and 1992 Declaration of the United Nations General Assembly on the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities.
De Varennes added that community standards Facebook should be equated with the concept of “hate speech” collected in the recent United Nations Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speech.
He added that the failure to protect linguistic minorities against hate speech by Facebook is concerning and contrary to international human rights law.
Applaud the creation of the Board
Despite this circumstance, he described the Supervisory Board as “an innovative and ambitious initiative to regulate online communication, especially hate speech, which is essential for the effective protection of vulnerable minorities around the world. “
He welcomed the fact that the Board is made up of leading experts committed to human rights and freedom of expression, and noted that efforts have been made to guarantee impartiality by entrusting its administration to an independent trust.
The main focus of the rapporteur’s attention this year was “the expression of hatred, the media and minorities.” Its main initiatives include the convening of regional forums in Europe and Asia on this issue, and the presidency of the United Nations Forum on Minority Issues that was held last November.
During 2020, de Varennes made “the expression of hatred, the social media and minorities” his thematic focus. He convened regional forums in Europe and Asia, and chaired the United Nations Forum on Minority Issues in November 2020.
In the three forums, more than 100 recommendations were made to combat online hate speech against minorities.
“I look forward to continuing to collaborate constructively with the Oversight Board, and I look forward to assisting with its institutional development and minority-related issues,” de Varennes said.
* The special rapporteurs and the Working Groups are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. The Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN human rights system, is the general name for the Council’s independent investigative and monitoring mechanisms that deal with specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. world. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; They are not UN personnel and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent of any government or organization and provide services on an individual basis.
–
