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In 2022, the Oversight Board selected a case referred by Meta concerning a video on Instagram depicting a woman in India being sexually assaulted by a group of men. The Instagram account described itself as a platform for Dalit perspectives in India. As part of its decision, the Board recommended that Meta include an escalation-only policy in the Adult Sexual Exploitation Community Standard to allow depictions of non-consensual sexual touching where the content meets certain criteria that entail minimal risks for victims. These criteria include Meta judges that the content is shared to raise awareness, the victim is not identifiable, the content does not involve nudity or explicit sexual activity, and the content is not shared in a sensationalized context.
Meta referred the case to the Oversight Board due to the complexity of striking the appropriate balance between allowing users to freely express condemnation of sexual exploitation and addressing the harm in allowing graphic visual depictions of sexual harassment to remain on our platforms. By considering the context and intent behind user-generated content, we create a safer and more inclusive online environment that empowers users to express themselves freely.
What was the impact of implementing this recommendation?
In May 2023, following the Board’s recommendation and an internal assessment, Meta updated our Adult Sexual Exploitation policy to allow content depicting non consensual sexual touching with a warning screen and age-restriction, when the content met the context-specific policy criteria.
To illustrate the Board’s impact, we gathered data from our enforcement teams related to this new policy in combination with our existing policy on written descriptions of this form of harassment. Over a 3-month period from December 1, 2024, through February 28, 2025, we identified over 15,000 pieces of content across Facebook and Instagram where users raised awareness regarding sexual harassment or abuse in line with the allowable criteria from our Adult Sexual Exploitation policy. This includes content that would have previously been taken down for violating policy but, given the awareness-raising context, remains on the platform with a screen to give users the option to view more details. Of this total, 76% of the content was from Facebook and 24% of the content was from Instagram.
This data illustrates the impact of Meta's implementation of the Board's recommendation on our users across platforms. Through the responsible sharing of such sensitive content, users are able to raise awareness about critical issues like sexual harassment and abuse while maintaining user safety.
