Latest Quarterly Harms Report shows Meta shareholders investing in anti-abortion activism

As Facebook tallies its Q1 dollars, Meta shareholders continue to fund evisceration of global human rights across Meta’s platforms

26 April 2023The Real Facebook Oversight Board

As Meta today releases its Q1 earnings for 2023, the Real Facebook Oversight Board has summarized the harms globally by Meta across its platforms this quarter. The full report, available here, highlights these harms for Q1 —

  • Meta’s role as a hub for disinformation about abortion rights, and the reckless invasions of women’s privacy across platforms.
  • Replatforming former President Trump just as his rhetoric reached a new level of racism and antisemitism. The reinstatement showed the irrelevance of Meta’s Oversight Board, whose breathless “ban” of the former President was never a ban — just disinformation delayed.
  • Meta’s continued failure to protect human rights in India and elsewhere.
  • Blacklisting whistleblowers in Kenya who came forward with concerns about Meta’s content moderation.
  • 21,000 layoffs, 30% of the workforce gone, devastated morale and a lack of direction.

Most alarming is Meta’s continued failure to protect women’s privacy, or even present accurate information about abortion access. From our report:

Since the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on June 24th, 2022, Meta has been at the nexus of ongoing women’s data privacy concerns. The platform is complicit in collecting the health information of millions of users — without their knowledge — through partnerships and advertising tools like the “Meta Pixel.” The result is that, in a post-Roe world, the digital trail of women who use menstrual trackers, access crisis pregnancy centers, or explore birth control avenues online, can be used as evidence in states where abortion procedures are outlawed.

Despite its porous data privacy policy, Facebook has continually refused to comment and enact change on this situation. Meta continually claims it does not collect data on healthcare matters but these website trackers show otherwise. As abortion access remains under attack across the United States, Meta is endangering women’s lives and further restricting their rights — with the complicity of shareholders.

The Quarterly Harms Report also details the consequences of Meta’s re-platforming of President Trump, as well as recent “highlights” of Meta’s Q1 performance on global human rights — and continued failure to protect lives and workers, from India to Kenya and beyond.

“Meta,” our report writes, “and the Oversight Board with its half- measure decision [on Trump], have failed democracy. As 2024 approaches, we need to continue to press for oversight and accountability to limit the reach of autocrats like President Trump on Meta’s platforms.

Real Facebook Oversight Board will continue to catalogue Meta’s harms each quarter.

Real Facebook Oversight Board members are available for interviews. Statements do not reflect the individual positions of all Real Facebook Oversight Board Members. Contact us at media@the-citizens.com.