The notorious 2020 is going to end soon, and we look forward to a fresh start in 2021. At the Social Media Governance Initiative (SMGI), we refined our goal this year to bring prosocial governance mechanisms to tech corporations and social media platforms.

In 2018, Mark Zuckerberg announced that, to make Facebook’s oversight and governance independent, they wanted to convene an appeals mechanism.

In the face of COVID-19, social media platforms are adopting various approaches to govern their users’ behaviors. Most platforms are carrying on with typical response techniques they believe to be effective, like blocking users, removing content, or using automated enforcement for bulk removal.

The Justice Collaboratory’s Social Media Governance Initiative (SMGI) aims to shape and lead a concerted pro-social movement for social media platforms. We want to encourage online decision makers to promote cooperation and enable communities to advocate for social norms and moral values that advance civil and civic society.

The following is a commentary from the Justice Collaboratory’s Director of Social Media Governance Initiative Farzaneh Badiei.

This week, Facebook made two key announcements about combating hate and extremism online and the establishment of an independent oversight board. The announcements were timely and strategic: on Wednesday, September 18, Facebook and other tech giants had a hearing at the US Senate about “Mass Violence, Extremism, and Digital Responsibility.”