#FACEBOOK OVERSIGHT BOARD ABOUTFACEBOOK FREE#

Capitol, Facebook banned then-president Donald Trump ’s account. One of those people was me.Īfter the insurrection at the U.S. Could a for-profit company build a court? Many people - in and outside Facebook - thought the whole idea was more than a little crazy. And she said to me, “Actually, you know what? Before you go and publish this, let me send it to Mark and see what he thinks about it.”Īs it turned out, Facebook C.E.O. And I showed it to Sheryl because she was my host. I thought maybe I could publish it as an op-ed. I wrote it up in a 1,200- or 1,300-word document. And the idea that came into my mind was that what Facebook would need in content moderation was a Supreme Court. Noah was hyperventilating his legs were about to give out.įELDMAN: And sure enough, it worked.

#FACEBOOK OVERSIGHT BOARD ABOUTFACEBOOK FREE#

Not the question of how governments were dealing with them and free speech, but how they were thinking about it internally. And one part of that was trying to figure out how the social media companies were themselves dealing with the challenges of free speech. And I had that, you know, oxygen deprivation feeling that you get when you’re trying to climb hills that are too hard for you. And not unlike the uphill battle that Noah found himself on during his bike ride.įELDMAN: It was much too hard for me. It’s always an uphill battle for these social media companies. It’s just really hard to keep all the bad stuff off the platforms. When you get more content, you’re bound to get more hateful speech as well. Not all the content is going to be so nice and friendly. The more they grow, the more content their users post. Noah was thinking a lot about the relationship between his field, constitutional law, and the struggle that platforms have keeping people safe online. I was just out there and it was nice to see her. But not because of anything to do with Facebook. Noah FELDMAN: I happened to be staying with my friend Sheryl Sandberg, who - I went to college with her, and she’s the C.O.O. Maybe you can guess? He was thinking about Facebook. So as Noah was cranking around the hills of Old La Honda Road, he was thinking about a company with its headquarters nearby. He even helped to draft Iraq’s interim constitution.

He’s a constitutional law professor at Harvard. The bike ride was a little break from seeing friends and doing his meetings.īut, Noah’s not your average mountain biker. One afternoon back in 2018, Noah was taking a bike ride in the hills around Palo Alto, California. I want to tell you the story about a friend and a colleague of mine.

Facebook oversight board aboutfacebook