Tawakkol Karman on Facebook’s Oversight Board doesn’t please Saudis

May 13, 2020

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Yemeni Tawakkol Karman (AFP)

On 10 May 2020 AlBawaba reported that Facebook had appointed Yemeni Nobel Peace Prize laureate Tawakkol Karman as a member of its newly-launched Oversight Board, an independent committee which will have the final say in whether Facebook and Instagram should allow or remove specific content. [ see also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2020/04/11/algorithms-designed-to-suppress-isis-content-may-also-suppress-evidence-of-human-rights-violations/]

Twenty (out of 40) board members have been announced so far including Denmark’s former prime minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, former Guardian editor-in-chief Alan Rusbridger and Internet Without Borders executive director Julie Owono. “The board uses its independent judgment to support people’s right to free expression and ensure that those rights are being adequately respected,” the company said. Facebook added the board’s judgments on the social network’s content moderation decisions are “binding”. The company will have to implement them, unless they are in violation of the law.

Karman, a human rights activist, journalist and politician, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011 for her role in Yemen’s Arab Spring uprising. Her appointment to the Facebook body has led to sharp reaction in the Saudi social media. She said that she has been subjected to a campaign of online harassment by Saudi media ever since she was appointed to Facebook’s Oversight Board. In a Twitter post on Monday she said, “I am subjected to widespread bullying & a smear campaign by #Saudi media & its allies.” Karman referred to the 2018 killing of Jamal Khashoggi indicating fears that she could be the target of physical violence.

Tawakkol Karman✔ @TawakkolKarman

I am subjected to widespread bullying&a smear campaign by #Saudi’s media&its allies. What is more important now is to be safe from the saw used to cut #jamalkhashoggi’s body into pieces.I am in my way to #Turkey&I consider this as a report to the international public opinion.

2,086

6:49 AM – May 11, 2020

However, previous Saudi Twitter campaigns have been proven by social media analysts to be manufactured and unrepresentative of public opinion, with thousands of suspicious Twitter accounts churning out near-identical tweets in support of the Saudi government line. The Yemeni human rights organization SAM for Rights and Liberties condemned the campaign against Karman, saying in a statement that “personalities close to the rulers of Saudi Arabia and the Emirates, as well as newspapers and satellite channels financed by these two regimes had joined a campaign of hate, and this was not a normal manifestation of responsible expression of opinion“.

https://www.albawaba.com/editors-choice/yemeni-nobel-laureate-tawakkol-karman-appointed-facebooks-oversight-board-member (Via SyndiGate.info)

https://english.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2020/5/12/yemeni-activist-subjected-to-saudi-trolling-after-facebook-appointment

This entry was posted on May 13, 2020 at 16:12 and is filed under human rights, Human Rights Defenders.

Tags: content moderation, cyber attacks, facebook, on-line harassment, SAM for Rights and Liberties, Saudi Arabia, smear campaign, social media, Tawakkol Karman, twitter, Yemen

One Response to “Tawakkol Karman on Facebook’s Oversight Board doesn’t please Saudis”

Emi Palmor’s selection to Facebook oversight board criticised by Palestinian NGOs | Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders Says:

May 16, 2020 at 19:43
[…] Tawakkol Karman on Facebook’s Oversight Board doesn’t please Saudis […]

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