The Oversight Board, Meta’s semi-independent policy council, is shifting its focus to the handling of explicit, AI-generated images on the company’s social platforms. Two separate investigations have been announced concerning how Instagram in India and Facebook in the U.S. managed AI-generated images of public figures after Meta’s systems failed to adequately detect and respond to the explicit content.
Following these incidents, both platforms have removed the media. The Oversight Board intervenes in cases regarding Meta’s moderation decisions. Users are required to first appeal to Meta regarding a moderation action before approaching the Oversight Board.
Regarding the initial case, the board explained that a user flagged an AI-generated nude image of a public figure from India as pornography on Instagram. This image was shared by an account dedicated to posting AI-generated images of Indian women, with the majority of its audience based in India.
Meta initially failed to remove the image despite the report, and the report ticket was automatically closed after 48 hours without further review by the company. Subsequent appeals by the original complainant also resulted in automatic closures without Meta’s oversight. Consequently, despite two reports, the explicit AI-generated image remained on Instagram.
Only after the user appealed to the Oversight Board did the company take action to remove the objectionable content, citing a breach of its community standards on bullying and harassment.
The second case pertains to Facebook, where a user shared an explicit AI-generated image resembling a U.S. public figure within a group dedicated to AI creations. The social network promptly removed the image since it had been previously posted by another user, and Meta had categorized it under ‘derogatory sexualized photoshop or drawings’ in its Media Matching Service Bank.
Source: Social Samosa
