Janice R. Andrews
Meta’s Oversight Board has started an investigation into two anti-transgender posts that were made in 2024. The company refused to take them down despite many reports of hate speech, bullying, and abuse. Now, the Board wants to hear from the public about these cases so that they can learn more about Meta’s rules and the problems that come up when they are enforced.
In the first case, a video that was shared on Facebook shows another lady confronting a trans woman in the bathroom. The post calls the trans woman a man instead of a woman and questions her right to use a bathroom for women. The post was taken down even though it was reported for breaking Meta’s hate speech policy. Meta defended its choice by saying that the post was newsworthy because of the current political debate in the US about transgender people’s access to bathrooms that are proper for their gender.
In the second case, an Instagram film shows a transgender girl winning a sports challenge for women. Some fans can be heard saying they don’t like it, and the post calls the athlete a boy when they are actually a girl. This post was also reported for hate speech, just like the Facebook post, but Meta decided to leave it up because they thought it did not break their Community Standards.
Meta’s hate speech policy makes it clear that people can’t be directly attacked because of their gender identity. However, the company’s choice to keep these ads up has caused a stir. The users who took these cases to the Oversight Board said that Meta’s actions are letting transphobic material stay on its platforms, which goes against its stated goal of protecting underrepresented groups.
As part of a larger attempt to look at how Meta moderates material about gender identity, the Oversight Board has decided to look into these cases. The Board wants to know if Meta’s method protects the rights of transgender and non-binary people while also respecting freedom of speech. The public has until September 12 to say what they think about the issue. The Board will use these views in the final decisions it makes.
This is not the first time that Meta has been criticized for how it handles material about transgender people. The Oversight Board said that Meta deleted two Instagram posts from a transgender and non-binary couple without a good reason last year. The couple’s posts, in which they talked about transgender health care and raised money for gender-affirming surgery, were taken down at first because they were thought to violate Meta’s sexual solicitation rules. Meta changed its mind after the couple made an appeal, though. Later, the Oversight Board agreed that taking down the posts was never the right thing to do.
Outside of Meta, people have said that it doesn’t do enough to protect transgender users, which has led to internal review. GLAAD, an LGBTQ+ advocacy group, released a study earlier this year that showed Meta’s inconsistent enforcement of its anti-hate speech rules. Between June 2023 and March 2024, the study found a lot of anti-trans hate speech on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads. This hate speech included slurs, degrading language, and support for harmful practices like conversion therapy.
As the Oversight Board continues to look into the matter, the result could have big effects on how Meta deals with transgender problems in the future. Once the Board’s suggestions are made public, Meta has 60 days to react.
