Submission Author: Maryam Ali Khan
Submission Date: 23rd January, 2024

In May 2023, a video was posted on Facebook by a news channel where a Pakistani politician was addressing the parliament and made comments that suggested that some public officials, including military personnel, needed to be hanged in order for the country to ‘heal itself.’ This was achieved by drawing parallels between the contemporary Pakistani political landscape and the perceived necessity for these executions with an ancient Egyptian ritual where individuals were sacrificed in the River Nile as a means of controlling flooding. Considering this, Meta should have taken down the video from Facebook in accordance with its Violence and Incitement Policy. The policy clearly stipulates that any content containing statements targeting individuals, other than private and high-risk persons with statements that advocated or called for violence, as well as statements containing aspirational or conditional calls to violence will be removed.

The statements made by the politician in the video were clearly inflammatory and violent especially when you look at them within the context of the country’s political history and how public hangings of influential figures, such as Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, have been manipulated by those in power to advance their agendas and propagate specific narratives - narratives that have had long term consequences on the political fabric of the country. When looking at posts and content such as this, it is also important to consider the role that state institutions such as the military and judiciary have played and continue to play in Pakistani politics. Pakistan has had a history of military managing or meddling with civilian state institutions. Free press and journalism have been relentlessly monitored and restricted during these periods of military rule, with censorship and intimidation being a regular occurrence. Journalists and citizens encounter a variety of problems, including threats of assault and harassment. Pakistan currently ranks 150th out of 180 nations in the 2023 World Press Freedom Index, indicating a striking deterioration in freedom of the press. As the country progresses, it is critical that authorities take relevant steps to ensure freedom of the press, especially due to the fact that no democracy can function efficiently without it.

As Pakistan approaches its upcoming general elections scheduled for February, familiar patterns seem to be repeating themselves. Censorship of the press and journalists has been ongoing before and after Imran Khan was ousted as the Prime Minister after a no-confidence motion in April 2022. There have been multiple riots by supporters of his party since then and the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA), has increasingly censored media outlets and journalists who are critical of the state. Additionally, there have been multiple state-imposed internet shutdowns in an attempt to silence dissent and disrupt online political campaigning by certain political parties. Since May 2023, former prime minister Imran Khan has been in jail, and his party members are being severely restricted by authorities from freely contesting elections.

In Pakistan, social media and digital platforms have played a huge role in amplifying journalistic freedom. These platforms allow journalists and media organizations to quickly reach a much larger audience than was conventionally possible before. However, this has also meant that a lot of journalists and news agencies have been unable to maintain their standards of what content is “newsworthy”, and many times share content that is nothing but sensational, and is intended to bring in views - which is good for business. Journalists are pressured by media houses to report and sensationalize news, reflecting the severe absence of ethical journalism standards in the industry. We have also seen a shift in the industry where news reporting is no longer a monopoly maintained by journalists. Pakistan has seen an increasing trend of

‘Youtubers,’ ‘political commentators’, and ‘influencers’ spreading disinformation under the guise of news in the country.

The speech provided no useful information and led to more instability in the country leading up to the May 9th events in the country when riots broke out in cities after Imran Khan was ousted and military official buildings were attacked. What's more alarming is that this particular speech incited public opinion towards attacking public officials who can be in the guise of military officials, politicians, and any other official believed to be working for a political opponent other than the proclaimed party who made this statement.

When determining what kind of content should be allowed to stay up on social media platforms, content moderators should keep in mind these regional and political contexts. How certain content could escalate offline and online violence should especially be considered. Freedom of speech and freedom of the press can be achieved without having to resort to blatant violent speech. In content removal and guideline development, Meta should encourage governments to adhere to appropriate protocols for submitting content removal requests. The Pakistani government has had the capability to monitor and censor online material and has in the past issued draconian laws for social media platforms in February 2020, which allow them to erase “unlawful” information within 24 hours. These restrictions have been criticized for limiting freedom of expression and stifling dissent of users online. The 2016 Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) also gives authorities powers to monitor and prohibit internet information. Therefore, it is essential that the government establishes a well-defined set of guidelines and protocols that prioritize human rights guiding principles and the freedom of the press. The justification for content removal should not be based on its opposition to the state or its advocacy for causes such as women's and trans rights - which are often misunderstood as ‘un Islamic,’ ‘immoral,’ ‘vulgar’ and ‘immodest.’

These steps will help in the democratization and de-escalation of political tensions both in online and offline platforms, while simultaneously improving the quality of journalism in the country.

*To the read the Oversight Board’s full decision on this case:

https://www.oversightboard.com/decision/fb-57spp63y/

**To read see all submitted Public Comments: https://www.oversightboard.com/news/

Submission: Research Department, Digital Rights Foundation
Submission Date: 30th November, 2023

Meta’s classifiers failed to assess the relevant context and took too abrupt a decision in removing the post shared on Instagram. The shared video showed a man confronting a woman in public because she was not wearing a hijab. The woman whose face was visible in the video, was arrested following the incident. The accompanying Persian caption used descriptive language to express the user’s support for the woman in the video and all Iranian women standing up to the regime. As per Meta's assessment, the caption was construed as having an "intent to commit high severity violence," thereby violating its Violence and Incitement policy. The post was later restored to Instagram under the Coordinating Harm and Promoting Crime policy after the user appealed to Meta and it was decided that the post did not violate community standards. This policy outlined that users may be allowed to advocate and debate the legality of content that aimed to draw attention to harmful or criminal activity as long as they did not advocate for or coordinate harm. It also outlined that any content that put unveiled women at risk would require additional information and context.

It is important to note that this context was provided in the post if the classifiers were designed to assess the content in totality instead of processing the caption and media individually. The attack did not take place in a vacuum and was a byproduct of strict moral policing by the Iranian state. This was exacerbated by ongoing political unrest that had unfolded in September 2022 when Mahsa Amini was taken into custody by the morality police under accusations of observing ‘improper hijab’ - where she suspiciously died of a heart attack. This sparked nationwide protests, united by the chant: ‘Zan, Zendegi, Azadi’ (Woman, Life, freedom).

For the ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ movement, social media and online platforms were paramount in the mobilization of protests and broadcasting of vital information. Videos and pictures from various protests in schools, universities, and streets were circulated which showed more and more women exercising their right to freedom of expression by appearing in public without their head coverings. Social media allowed the protesters a platform to get their message out into the world. A prominent Iranian actress, Taraneh Alidoosti, posted multiple pictures of herself without a headscarf on Instagram with the caption ‘Woman. Life. Freedom’. Women willfully

unveiling in public spaces quickly became a symbol of defiance against the morality police, and the regime. As expected, acts of defiance such as unveiling in public in a political and religious climate, such as Iran’s, comes with its own risks. Women and girls who have stepped out in public without a head covering have been arrested, beaten, and had items like yogurt dumped on their heads. Men have also been arrested and beaten for showing support for the cause. 

Additionally, the Iranian authorities resorted to unprecedented levels of internet shutdowns in an attempt to silence dissent and isolate the Iranian people from the world. According to Filter.watch, an Iran-focused internet monitor, Iran experienced internet blackouts for over four months either nationwide, or at a provincial level after Mahsa Aminis death. Moreover, the government enacted legislation that allowed the government to monitor and identify individuals based on their online activity. 

These measures are a part of the government's effort to curtail freedom of expression and access to the global online platform. A majority of Iranian users are either experiencing constant removal of their content or know at least one person who is being censored in the Persian language. The most common type of content that has been removed or shadowbanned are hashtags of human rights campaigns; comedians posting political satire; and activists organizations using chants like “death to Khamenei”. Persian language news organizations have also had their content removed simply for discussing political organizations. Most of the content posted on Meta is in languages other than English, with more than a hundred languages being used on Facebook. This needs to be taken into account when assembling contextual embeddings. Meta needs to improve its Natural Language Processing (NLP), scaling it across more languages. Systems that detect and remove policy-violating content should then be trained accordingly.

Access to safe and well regulated social media platforms are essential for socio-political movements, making it essential for Meta to review its content moderation according to multiple regional, cultural, and linguistic contexts. Prior to content removal based solely on the judgment of automated classifiers, Meta should prioritize training manual moderators in understanding relevant complications tied to online content. This approach would allow human moderators to assess both media content and their accompanying captions in accordance to contextual cues, allowing for a more nuanced and accurate decision making process compared to evaluating them separately. Social media users ought to have the freedom to share content expressing their support for a cause or condemning harmful regimes and beliefs. This should be permitted without Meta's classifiers flagging it as a violation, even in cases where the language used may be deemed 'offensive.' It is important to note that offensive language can be used in non-offensive contexts, and hate speech does not always contain offensive language.

 CNN, Leading Iranian actor posts picture without hijab in support of anti-government protests (CNN, 2022)

 AWID, Iran's Year of Defiance and Repression: How One Woman's Death Sparked a Nationwide Uprising (AWID, 2023) 

https://www.awid.org/news-and-analysis/irans-year-defiance-and-repression-how-one-womans-death-sparked-nationwide

 BBC NEWS, Iranian Women arrested for not covering hair after man attacks them with yogurt (BBC, 2023) 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-65150135

https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/10/middleeast/iran-taraneh-alidoosti-actor-hijab-intl