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The Oversight Board’s Dormant Power to Review Facebook’s Algorithms
Pickup, Edward L.
Pickup, Edward L.
Abstract
This Essay argues that Facebook’s Oversight Board—an independent “Supreme Court” for Facebook, tasked with reviewing the platform’s content-moderation decisions—has the additional power to review Face-book’s algorithms. While much of the literature on the Board assumes that it does not have this power, the text and structure of the Board’s Charter clearly provide for oversight of algorithms. This is an important observation because many of the serious problems plaguing online speech today—misinformation, radicalization, and community safety—are driven by algorithmic amplification. Equipped with the powers this Essay identifies, the Board could play a significant role in curbing the pernicious effects of algorithmic amplification of speech on Facebook.