Metastandards (n): standards for thee, but not for me
Last week, I received this from Facebook ‘support’:
After making sure this was not spam, I pondered what it all meant. Why this warning? I have never advertised on Facebook and don’t have a business account, so could not see how I had transgressed Advertising Policies.
Community guidelines cover Violence and criminal behaviour, Safety, Objectionable content and Respecting intellectual property. Given that it’s possible to find almost everything and anything offensive in the Metaverse, I had never been warned for a post, or informed that any posted content is objectionable.
So I clicked the fix issue banner, sent through my bonafides, including a requested photograph of my passport, which I was very uneasy about sending, and waited for the review.
Just like Stig O’Tracy, I ‘ad transgressed the unwritten law.
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Interviewer: What had you done?
Stig: Er… well he didn’t tell me that, but he gave me his word that it was the case, and that’s good enough for me with old Zucky.
What had I done? Unfortunately, I’ll never know. Facebook has robbed me of the opportunity to become a better person — how can I strengthen my moral fibre if I’m ignorant of the heinous sins I have committed?
The guidelines provide no clue. They are so comprehensive as to afford almost any interpretation.
Community Standards are written to ensure that everyone’s voice is valued and Facebook takes great care to craft policies that are inclusive of different views and beliefs.
Perusing the Internet, I am not the only person who has had this experience. Particularly galling is the fact that I work on climate change. Over the years, Facebook has allowed so much mis-information on climate change to thrive, they have been a significant factor in delaying action (In the interest of fairness, Facebook did open a Climate Science Center in September 2020).
The standard missing here is accountability. If an entity, whether a private company, government or organisation is to have and apply standards that are inclusive, that entity needs to be accountable. Otherwise, it is an autocracy and the places it creates are not safe.
Standards for me, but not for thee. Very Meta.
