Meta's oversight board urges for end on banning Arabic word 'shaheed'

After a year-long review found the Facebook owner's approach was "overbroad," Meta's oversight board Tuesday called on the company to end its blanket ban on the Arabic word "shaheed," or "martyr" in English.

The board, funded by Meta but operates independently, said the social media giant should remove posts containing the word "shaheed" only when they are linked to clear signs of violence or if they break other Meta rules separately.

The ruling comes after years of criticism of the company's handling of content involving the Middle East, including in a 2021 study Meta itself commissioned that found its approach had an "adverse human rights impact" on Palestinians and other Arabic-speaking users of its services.

Those criticisms have escalated since the onset of hostilities between Israel and Hamas in October.

Rights groups have accused Meta of suppressing content supportive of Palestinians on Facebook and Instagram against the backdrop of a war that has killed tens of thousands of people in Gaza following Hamas' deadly raids into Israel on Oct.7.

The Meta Oversight Board reached similar conclusions in its report on Tuesday.

It found that Meta's rules on "shaheed" failed to account for the word's variety of meanings and resulted in removing content not aimed at praising violent actions.

"Meta has been operating under the assumption that censorship can and will improve safety, but the evidence suggests that censorship can marginalize whole populations while not improving safety at all," Oversight Board co-chair Helle Thorning-Schmidt said in a statement.

Meta currently removes any posts using "shaheed" in referring to people it designates on its list of "dangerous organizations and individuals," which includes members of extremist militant groups, drug cartels and white supremacist organizations.

According to the board's report, the company says the word constitutes praise for those entities that it bans.

Hamas is among the groups the company designates as a "dangerous organization."

Meta sought the board's input on the topic last year after starting a reassessment of the policy in 2020 but failing to reach a consensus internally, the board said.

In its request, it revealed that "shaheed" accounted for more content removals on its platforms than any other word or phrase.

A Meta spokesperson said the company would review the board's feedback and respond within 60 days.

Source: Reuters