We welcome the Oversight Board’s decision today, November 16, 2023, on this case which deals with a video posted to Facebook in which a person claims that they were driving through the streets of France until a group of dark-skinned men are allegedly seen chasing after the car. The video is accompanied by a caption where the user states that “France has fell like planet of the friggin apes...”
Upon initial review, Meta left this content up. However, after the board brought the case to our attention, we determined the content violates our Hate Speech policy, as laid out in the Facebook Community Standards, and removed the content. Meta removes content that dehumanizes a person or group of people on the basis of their protected characteristic(s) by comparing them to animals in general or specific types of animals that are culturally perceived as intellectually or physically inferior.