Case Summary and Outcome

The Oversight Board issued a summary decision concerning Meta’s original removal of a Facebook post featuring an image of the Korean poem “The Scream of General Hong Beom-Do” by Lee Dong Soon. Meta initially removed the post under its Hate Speech Policy, considering the term “wae-nom” (왜놈) (literally “a person from Japan”) targeted a group of people based on a protected characteristic. The company then reversed its decision and restored the content after the Board brought the case to its attention. The Board noted that the case highlighted the difficulties Meta faces in applying its Hate Speech policy to artistic expression, particularly when cultural and linguistic context is essential. It observed that frequent enforcement errors often result from a lack of nuanced, context-specific, and culturally informed analysis. The Board reiterated the importance of fully implementing its past recommendations to minimize such enforcement failures under the Hate Speech policy.

*The Oversight Board is a separate entity from Meta and will provide its independent judgment on both individual cases and questions of policy. Both the Board and its administration are funded by an independent trust. The Board has the authority to decide whether Facebook and Instagram should allow or remove content. The Board issues full decisions and summary decisions. Decisions, except summary decisions, are binding unless implementing them could violate the law. The Board can also choose to issue recommendations on the company’s content policies. Summary decisions are a transparency mechanism, providing information to the public on Meta’s decision making and the Board’s recommendations relating to cases where Meta reversed its original decision on its own accord, after receiving notice from the Board about the appeal.

Facts

In September 2023, a Facebook user posted an image of a Korean poem criticizing the attempts to relocate the bust of General Hong Beom-Do entitled “The Scream of General Hon Beom-Do” written by Lee Dong Soon. The poem included the term “wae-nom” (왜놈), which literally translates as “person from Japan.” However, the term has been used generally by Koreans to refer to “Japanese invaders during the Japanese occupation of Korea” [p. 1] and has evolved to be a derogatory term that means “Japanese bastards.” The post received less than 500 views.

Hong Beom-Do was a general who led the Korean Independence Army in several battles against the Japanese forces. The content was posted during a time of ideological conflict surrounding the relocation of his bust due to his past involvement with the Soviet communist forces. The proposal to relocate the bust received wide public pushback.

Lee Dong Soon, the author of the poem, previously, shared the poem on Facebook, and it was removed for violating the Hate Speech policy. The removal decision inspired a movement to share the poem more widely on Facebook.

Meta initially removed the user’s post for violating its Hate Speech policy, which prohibits speech targeting a group of people based on protected characteristics through cursing. The user appealed Meta’s decision to the Oversight Board (OSB).

After the Board selected the case and brought it to Meta’s attention, “the company determined that the term ‘wae-nom’ in this poem was not employed as a curse word, but rather as a description of Japanese soldiers as invaders.” [p. 2] Hence, Meta concluded that the content did not violate its community standards and its removal was incorrect. Subsequently, the company restored the content to Facebook.

Decision Overview

The Oversight Board issued a decision on the matter on April 4, 2024. It decided to take on the case as it illustrated the challenges faced by Meta in enforcing its Hate Speech policy, particularly when dealing with artistic expression and historical references. Meta reversed its decision and restored the content on the platform after it was notified of the appeal by the Board. Hence, the Board issued a summary decision.

The Board first noted that this case presented similarities with a prior decision (the “Russian Poem” case), in which the Board overturned Meta’s original decision to remove a post insulting Russians and comparing the Russian army invading Ukraine to Nazis. In this decision, the Board highlighted Meta’s failure to consider “the context of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and how it hindered users’ abilities to express views on public interest issues.” [p. 2] Furthermore, the Board recalled the cultural and linguistic challenges that hinder proper enforcement of Meta’s policies, as observed in the “Reclaiming Arabic Words” and “Praise Be to God” cases.

The OSB then recalled its previous recommendations to improve enforcement of the Hate Speech policy, underscoring the importance of relevant cultural context in hate speech cases. It referred to the “Wampum Belt” decision to highlight the need for allowances that cover artistic expression and expression about human rights violations.

Last, the Board emphasized the necessity of fully implementing all of its recommendations to reduce enforcement errors under Meta’s Hate Speech policy. These errors, the OSB opined, stemmed from analyses that lacked a nuanced understanding of context and culturally specific linguistic expressions.

The Oversight Board overturned Meta’s original decision to remove the content and acknowledged Meta’s correction of the initial error after the Board brought the user’s appeal to the company’s attention.