Case Summary and Outcome

The Oversight Board issued a summary decision on November 16, 2023, overturning Meta’s decision to remove a posted photo of a Pakistani user at their traditional pre-wedding event, containing the Arabic expression “alhamdulillah” (“praise be to God”) for violating its Dangerous Organizations and Individuals (DOI) policy. The Board found the removal unjustified, noting the phrase had no tangible connection to dangerous organizations or individuals and that its suppression reflected systemic flaws in Meta’s enforcement mechanisms, particularly regarding translation and cultural interpretation. Meta reversed its decision after being notified by the Board of the user’s appeal.

*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 June 2023, a Pakistani Instagram user posted a photo of themselves at their traditional pre-wedding event, captioned with “alhamdulillah”, a common expression of gratitude among Muslim and Arab communities. The post received fewer than 1000 views.

Meta removed it for violating its Dangerous Organizations and Individuals (DOI) policy, which prohibits praise of designated dangerous entities or individuals.

The user appealed this decision to the Oversight Board.

Decision Overview

The main issue before the Board was whether the removal of the post was compatible with Meta’s policies and human rights obligations.

In their appeal, the user clarified that “alhamdulillah” is used culturally to express gratitude and has no link to hate groups or dangerous organizations, emphasizing that it is one of the most popular phrases used by Muslims. They argued the removal would seriously damage Muslim representation and reflect inherent ignorance. Furthermore, they submitted that the phrase should be treated as protected speech under Meta’s policies in line with the company’s value of protecting “voice”.

After the Board notified Meta of the appeal, Meta reversed its decision, acknowledging the post referenced no designated entities under the DOI policy.

The Board noted that this case highlighted inconsistent enforcement of the DOI policy, undermining Meta’s responsibility to treat users fairly. It reiterated two key recommendations from its “Öcalan’s Isolation” decision—that Meta assess its automated DOI moderation and publish comprehensive error rates by region and language—both of which Meta declined to implement.

The Board also reaffirmed its recommendation from the “Mention of the Taliban” decision that Meta increase resources for its “high-impact false positive override” mechanism across all languages to ensure human review of potential enforcement errors. Meta claimed compliance but provided no supporting evidence.

The Board further highlighted that the post contained no reference to designated entities, attributing the error to cultural/translation misunderstandings. It restated its recommendation from the “Reclaiming Arabic Words” decision that Meta translate DOI reviewer guidance into Modern Standard Arabic, which Meta rejected.

Ultimately, the Board overturned Meta’s original decision and acknowledged its correction. It stressed that full implementation of its recommendations is critical for reducing enforcement errors.