The creation of the council in 2020 was proposed by CEO Mark Zuckerberg and is responsible for evaluating the California group’s content moderation policy – GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP

On Tuesday, Meta’s supervisory board criticized the social media giant’s platforms for favoring problematic content posted by politicians, bosses, celebrities and other personalities.

“The board is concerned about how Meta has imposed its economic interests on content moderation,” the organization, classified as independent but funded by the company, said in a statement.

In its report, the board calls for a “significant overhaul” of the double-check program, called “cross-check”, to make it more transparent, responsive and fair.

Currently, when posts or images that potentially violate Facebook or Instagram policies are flagged, they are immediately removed if they are deemed too risky and come from unknown users.

But if the author is known, that content remains online while it undergoes further scrutiny, a process that often takes days, sometimes months.

This “unequal” system, operating in two phases, “offers additional protection to what certain users express, selected in part based on Meta’s economic interests,” the report elaborates.

This results in “content identified as inconsistent with the Meta Rules remaining visible on Facebook and Instagram, going viral and causing potential harm,” the council warned.

The group recommends speeding up screening of content of individuals who post important human rights messages, as well as deleting high-risk posts pending an internal verdict.

It also asks the company to publish selection criteria to take advantage of the program and publicly identify those users’ accounts on the platforms.

The council has 20 international members, including journalists, lawyers, human rights activists and former political leaders. Its creation in 2020 was proposed by CEO Mark Zuckerberg and is responsible for evaluating the California group’s content moderation policy.