Elaine Ou, Columnist

Facebook's Oversight Board Is a Convenient Flak-Catcher

Following the example of Congress, the media and the SEC.

February 5, 2021 at 2:30 PM UTC

Elaine Ou is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. She is a blockchain engineer at Global Financial Access in San Francisco. Previously she was a lecturer in the electrical and information engineering department at the University of Sydney.

If we think he’s key to saving democracy, we are in trouble.
Photographer: Michael Reynolds-Pool/AFP/Getty Images

Provide news feedback or report an error

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

This article is for subscribers only.

The easiest way to avoid taking responsibility for an unpopular decision is to blame an irrefutable, irrational authority. For example: “I’d love to help you move this weekend, but my wife won’t let me,” or “We’d love to reinstate Donald Trump’s Facebook account, but it’s up to the Facebook Oversight Board.”

Facebook’s Oversight Board was established last year as a “Supreme Court” for people to challenge the company’s content moderation decisions. It recently announced that it had overturned four content removal rulings initially made by the platform.