Meta 'Supreme Court' Expands with European Center to Handle TikTok, YouTube Cases

Meta's Oversight Board 'is spinning off a new appeals center,' reports the Washington Post, 'to handle content disputes from European social media users on multiple platforms'.
It will operate under Europe's Digital Services Act, 'which requires tech companies to allow users to appeal restrictions on their accounts before an independent group of experts.'

'I think this is really a game changer,' Appeals Centre Europe CEO Thomas Hughes said in an interview. 'It could really drive platform accountability and transparency.'
The expansion arrives as the Oversight Board, an independent collection of academics, experts and lawyers funded by Meta, has been seeking to expand its influence beyond the social media giant... [The Board] has tried for years to court other major internet companies, offering to help them referee debates about content, The Post has reported...

Oversight Board members and Oversight Board Trust Chairman Stephen Neal said in statements that both the Appeals Centre Europe and the Oversight Board will play critical but complimentary roles in holding tech companies accountable for their decisions on content. 'Both entities are committed to improving user redress, transparency and upholding users' rights online,' Neal said...

Hughes, who used to be the Oversight Board's administration director, said that he was 'proud' of what the Oversight Board is accomplishing but that it is different from what the Appeals Centre Europe will offer. When Facebook, YouTube or TikTok removes a post, European social media users will be able to appeal the decision to the center. Users also will also be able to flag the center with posts they think violate the rules but were not removed. While the Appeals Centre Europe's decisions will be nonbinding, the group will generate data that could power decisions by regulators, civil society groups and the general public, Hughes said. By contrast, the Oversight Board's decisions on Meta content are binding.

Last year the original Oversight Board completed more than 50 cases, 'and is on track to exceed that number in 2024,' according to the article. But this board is different, CEO Hughes told the Post. They'll have about two dozen staffers, with expertise in human rights and tech policy — or fluency in various languages.
And he added that though the center is funded by an initial grant, future operating costs will be covered by the fees social media companies pay the appeal center — roughly 90 euros ($100) per case.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.