The board, appointed and paid for by Facebook, consists of 20 individuals tasked with considering the thorniest content decisions made by the social media platform. Its decisions lack legal power, and it cannot prevent Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg from doing whatever he wants. Nor can the actual Facebook board, as the company’s structure gives Zuckerberg a controlling role and he cannot be overruled or removed. Yet it remains deeply worrying that governments remain reluctant to regulate, leaving private social media platforms to weigh the limits of free speech in online spaces that are effectively public and global. How to clarify those rights, constrain the daunting private power of social media platforms and enforce their accountability remains a defining, existential challenge for democracy.

Source: The Irish Times May 09, 2021 22:52 UTC