GLAAD is mad at Zuckerberg and Facebook (and rightfully so!)

GLAAD CALLS ON MARK ZUCKERBERG TO MAKE PUBLIC STATEMENT AFTER OVERSIGHT BOARD RULING IN FACEBOOK ANTI-TRANS HATE CONTENT CASE

Oversight Board overturns Meta’s original decision to leave up a Facebook post targeting transgender people with violent speech saying: “the company is not living up to the ideals it has articulated on LGBTQIA+ safety.”

GLAAD President and CEO calls on Mark Zuckerberg to make public statement against anti-trans hate and to publicly share plan of action for addressing “epidemic of anti-trans hate” on Meta platforms

GLAAD, the world’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) media advocacy organization responded to a new ruling announced by the Oversight Board (the body that makes consequential precedent-setting content moderation decisions on the social media platforms Facebook and Instagram) in the important anti-transgender hate content case “Post in Polish Targeting Trans People” — full details on the ruling are here.

The Oversight Board overturned Meta’s original decision to leave up a Facebook post targeting transgender people with violent speech. The post, an egregious example of anti-trans hate advocating for transgender people to commit suicide, featured an image of a striped curtain in the blue, pink and white colors of the transgender flag with a text overlay in Polish saying: ‘New technology. Curtains that hang themselves.’

“I personally want to hear Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg tell the world, today, that his company cares about the safety, rights, and dignity of transgender people,” said GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis. “This dangerous hate on his platforms is causing devastating real-world harm and it must stop. As GLAAD, HRC and 250+ LGBTQ celebrities and allies vehemently urged Meta back in July 2023, the company must urgently create and share an action plan for addressing the epidemic of anti-trans hate that runs rampant across Facebook, Instagram, and Threads — in violation of their own policies.”

In its decision issued on Tuesday January 16th, the Oversight Board ruled that the post violated both the Hate Speech and Suicide and Self-Injury Community Standards of Meta. The Board ruling echoes and affirms GLAAD’s longstanding guidance to Meta. The ruling states that: “the fundamental issue in this case is not with the policies, but their enforcement. Meta’s repeated failure to take the correct enforcement action, despite multiple signals about the post’s harmful content, leads the Board to conclude the company is not living up to the ideals it has articulated on LGBTQIA+ safety. The Board urges Meta to close enforcement gaps, including by improving internal guidance to reviewers [content moderators].”

The July 2023 open letter to social media platforms from 250+ LGBTQ and ally celebrities and influencers — including Elliot Page, Laverne Cox, Shawn Mendes, Ariana Grande, and Alyssa Milano — was facilitated by GLAAD and HRC, and demands that major social media companies, including Meta, create and publicly share a plan of action for steps they will be taking to stop the pervasive presence of anti-trans hate across their platforms, especially as such content violates th