The Real Facebook Oversight Board
Around the world Facebook is being used to subvert elections, fuel hate speech and spread disinformation. In 2020 the Citizens brought together a group of global academics, lawyers, journalists and civil rights campaigners to hold the tech giant to account
The Real Facebook Oversight Board is calling for independent, external oversight and regulation of Facebook and its platforms now, to protect its users and global democracy.
We have three demands of Facebook:
- Fix the algorithm, to prioritise credible news and information and to downrank hate and disinformation.
- Make an equal and adequate investment in non-English content moderation.
- Let academic researchers back in, allowing outside independent scholars to monitor Facebook’s content around the 2022 elections and beyond.
Our members
The Real Facebook Oversight Board is a diverse global coalition of the most dynamic, creative and critical voices today in civil rights, human rights, social media policy, disinformation research, extremism and the role of social media in society.
Real Facebook Oversight Board Members
Rana AyyubInvestigative journalist & global opinions editor, The Washington Post
Evan BalgordGlobal Journalism Fellow, Munk School of Global Affairs
Manuel BeltranFounder of the Institute of Human Obsolescence
Ruha BenjaminProfessor of African American Studies, Princeton University
Linda BonyoFounding director, African Law Tech & CEO of Lawyers Hub Kenya
Carole CadwalladrInvestigative journalist at the Guardian. Founder of the Citizens
David CarrollAssociate professor of media design, Parsons School of Design
Kate CoyerFellow & teacher, Center for Media, Data and Society, Central European University
Damian CollinsConservative MP & former chair of International Grand Committee on Disinformation
Joan DonovanResearch director, Harvard Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center
Laura EdelsonPhD candidate in computer science at New York University
Yael EisenstatAnti-Defamation League Vice President, Center for Technology & Society
Bharath GaneshAssistant Professor of Media Studies, University of Groningen
Jessica GonzalezCo-CEO of Free Press & member of StopHateForProfit coalition
Jonathan GreenblattCEO of the Anti-Defamation League
Toomas Hendrik IlvesFormer President of Estonia & cybersecurity expert
Htaike Htaike AungExecutive Director at Myanmar ICT for Development Organization
Derrick JohnsonLawyer & humanitarian. President & CEO of the NAACP
Roger McNameeInvestor & Mark Zuckerberg’s former mentor. Author of Zucked
Shireen MitchellFounder of Digital Sistas & Stop Online Violence Against Women
Safiya NobleWriter & Associate Professor at UCLA. Author of Algorithms of Oppression
Fadi QuranCampaigns Director, Avaaz
Nayantara RanganathanLawyer & researcher studying the politics & culture of digital technologies
Steve RenderosExecutive Director of MediaJustice
Maria RessaJournalist & founder of Rappler. 2021 Nobel Peace Prize Winner
Matt RivitzCo-founder of Sleeping Giants
Rashad RobinsonCivil rights leader & President of Color of Change
Marietje SchaakeInternational Director of Policy at the Cyber Policy Center, Stanford
Timothy SnyderHistorian & professor of history at Yale University
Jim SteyerFounder of Common Sense Media. Expert in online harms to children
Laurence H TribeLegal scholar & Professor of Constitutional Law at Harvard
Phumzile van DammeMember of Grand Committee on Disinformation & former MP, South Africa
Shoshana ZuboffProfessor Emerita at Harvard Business School & author of Surveillance Capitalism
Our research
The Real Facebook Oversight Board partners with leading social media researchers and experts, producing Quarterly Harms Reports summarising the global impact of Facebook each quarter.
Real Facebook Oversight Board: Quarterly Harms Reports
October 2022: Facebook shareholders investing in disinformation and deceit
As Facebook tallies its Q1 dollars, Facebook shareholders have made a sizable investment in disinformation, destabilization, deceit and denial. Read full report
April 2022: Facebook Failing in Ukraine
In our quarterly harms report covering Q1 2022, research from RFOB and global civic organisation Avaaz showed that Facebook failed to slow a torrent of disinformation about the War in Ukraine, endangering refugees and threatening to destabilise the global effort to slow Russia’s invasion. Read full report
January 2022: New Research Shows Facebook Enabling Insurrection in Brazil
Partnered with global civic organisation Avaaz, the Real Facebook Oversight Board warned that Brazil is at increased risk of a “January 6th-like event fomented on Facebook,” with Facebook failing to learn from or correct errors from the US insurrection that could put the results of Brazil’s October 2nd election in peril. Read full report
October 2021: New Data Shows Climate Misinformation Rampant on Facebook
Ahead of COP26, our partnership with Stop Funding Heat showed 1.3m daily views of climate disinformation. The report was paired with a massive melting ice sculpture at the US Capitol. Read full report
July 2021: Message to Shareholders: Facebook Disinformation Kills
Research Shows 83% of #1 Facebook Posts In Q2 Came From Disinformation Superspreaders. In a partnership with Sum of Us using data from Center for Countering Digital Hate, the quarterly report – paired with a drop of body bags at the Facebook Headquarters – showed the extent to which disinformation on Facebook is harming the global response to COVID. Read full report
Emergency sessions
The Real Facebook Oversight Board convenes the world’s leading experts on disinformation and online hate, and creates space for frontline advocates impacted by Facebook’s platforms to share their stories. Here are some of our recent emergency sessions:
Real Facebook Oversight Board in the media
Join our team
Are you a student with an interest in holding Big Tech to account? The Real Facebook Oversight Board is currently hiring interns for spring 2023. Find out more here
Contact us
For interviews with RFOB members and media inquiries please email media@the-citizens.com.