Meta Oversight Committee upholds Facebook's decision not to remove 'manipulated videos,' but recommends proper labeling of 'high risk' content
In response to a doctored video posted on Facebook that appeared to show a demonstration in support of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who is facing charges of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court, and which was reported by users as spreading misinformation, Meta's
Manipulated Video Should Have High-Risk Label
https://www.oversightboard.com/news/manipulated-video-should-have-high-risk-label/
Meta Oversight Board rules manipulated videos can stay on Facebook with better labels | Mashable
https://mashable.com/article/meta-oversight-board-manipulated-content-labels
In March 2025, former Philippine President Duterte was extradited to the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands for crimes against humanity committed during his term in office. A few days after his arrest, a video of a 'Duterte Protest' was shared on Facebook. The video was originally from a protest in Serbia, but text had been added to make it appear as if it was taking place in the Netherlands, along with sounds of people chanting 'Duterte' and 'Bayan Ko,' a song popular in the Philippine anti-martial law protests.
The posts were viewed approximately 100,000 times, and Meta's automated system flagged them as potentially misinformation, reducing their visibility in the Facebook feeds of users outside the U.S. Additionally, a fact-checking partner in the Philippines reported several videos as false, but Meta's fact-checkers were unable to fully review them due to the overwhelming number of reports, ultimately leading to a user's complaint to the Oversight Board.
In response to the complaint, the Oversight Board reported its findings on November 25, 2025. As a result of its investigation, the Oversight Board stated that it 'agrees with Meta that the post should have remained up as is' because the post did not contain 'the type of content prohibited by Meta's misinformation policy,' such as political voting-related content. Furthermore, the Oversight Board determined that the post contained digitally altered, photorealistic video, which posed a high risk of misleading the public during an important public event. Therefore, the Oversight Board noted that 'Meta should have labeled the content as 'high risk.''
The Oversight Committee states that Meta prioritizes fact-checking political posts during elections, but should similarly step up its fact-checking efforts during high-profile political events, such as the arrest of a former president. The Oversight Committee also recommends explaining the various labels it assigns to misleading content and the criteria for applying them. The Oversight Committee also recommends creating a dedicated queue to expedite posts that are nearly identical to content that has already been fact-checked.
In a previous blog post on content moderation, the Oversight Board stated that 'enforcement relying solely on automation could lead to excessive enforcement and unfairly impede freedom of expression,' indicating that it prioritizes issuing warnings to give users the opportunity to correct problematic content and labeling misinformation content to increase transparency, rather than deleting posts. In its report, the Oversight Board emphasized the 'importance of ensuring transparency' of manipulated media in order to strike a balance between freedom of expression and preventing misinformation.
Related Posts:
in Web Service, Posted by log1e_dh