The board confused more than helped protect the internet's trans community.
The Oversight Board governing Meta, Facebook's parent company, has upheld its decision to keep two videos that were reported for hate speech and harassment on the platform, while providing guidance for the company. The decision was taken in light of changes to Meta's Hateful Conduct Policy in January.
The Board began its investigation into the two posts in August. One of the videos showed a trans woman being harassed in a bathroom by another woman who repeatedly misgendered the trans woman and questioned why she should be allowed to use the women's restroom. The caption declares that the trans woman is a "male student who thinks he's a girl." The second video shows a trans woman winning a track race while being glared at by the spectator. The caption identifies her as a "boy who thinks he's a girl" and includes a young person's full name.
In its ruling, the Board said, "Debates around policies concerning the rights and inclusion of transgender people are permitted, as are offensive views under international human rights law. Yes, you saw 'offensive viewpoints' and 'permitted' in the same sentence." And the majority of the Board said they couldn't find a strong enough "link" between these posts and harm to trans individuals. They didn't see the posts as "constituting" harassment or bullying.
"Debates continue in the public domain about transgender women and girls' access to women's bathrooms and their participation in sports, involving a range of human rights considerations. A high bar is to be set for the restriction of such speech," the Board's decision said.
The Board insists that its ruling was not influenced by Meta's "sudden policy change" but is more focused on content and enforcement. "Meta should identify how the policy and enforcement updates may adversely affect the rights of LGBTQIA+ people, including minors, especially where these populations are at risk," the Board said. "It should take steps to address and/or mitigate these risks and assess their effectiveness. Meta should also update the Board on progress every six months, reporting publicly immediately."
The Board alluded to one specific point in Meta's update policy. "We do allow allegations of mental illness or abnormality when based on gender or sexual orientation, given political and religious discourse about transgenderism and homosexuality and common non-serious usage of words such as 'weird.'" The Board recommends that Meta take the word "transgenderism" out from the sentence, something that groups like Human Rights Campaign have pointed out is a "troubling alignment with anti-LGBTQ+ political rhetoric."