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39 JREG Bulletin 1 (2021)

handle is hein.journals/jregb39 and id is 1 raw text is: The Oversight Board's Dormant Power to Review Facebook's Algorithms Edward L. Pickupt This Essay argues that Facebook's Oversight Board-an independ- ent Supreme Court for Facebook, tasked with reviewing the platform's content-moderation decisions -has the additional power to review Face- book's algorithms. While much of the literature on the Board assumes that it does not have this power, the text and structure of the Board's Char- ter clearly provide for oversight of algorithms. This is an important ob- servation because many of the serious problems plaguing online speech today-misinformation, radicalization, and community safety-are driven by algorithmic amplification. Equipped with the powers this Essay identifies, the Board could play a significant role in curbing the pernicious effects of algorithmic amplification of speech on Facebook. In tro duction ............................................................................................ . 2 I. The Board's Mission and Algorithmic Harms ............................... 6 II. Overview of the Board's Powers and Adjudicatory Process............8 III. The Board Can Make Policy Recommendations About A lgorithm s........................................................................................ . . 9 A. Limits on the Board's Information-Gathering Power Do Not Apply to Algorithms.........................................................11 B. Facebook's Algorithms Are Amenable to Board Policy Recommendations ....................................................................13 C. Even if Facebook Algorithms Are Not Content Poli- cies, the Board May Issue Recommendations About Them ..........................................................................................16 IV. The Board Is Competent to Review Facebook's Algorithms.......18 V. How Should the Board Use Its Power to Review Algorithms?.....19 A . Two Example Applications ................................................. 20 1. Future Decisions on Inflammatory Speech by W orld L eaders ............................................................... 20 2. Downranking Algorithms............................................. 20 C onclusion ............................................................................................ 22