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Members of Facebook's 'Supreme Court' must demand power or resign, say campaigners

The Facebook logo and a woman looking at her phone 
The Facebook logo and a woman looking at her phone

Former Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger and others on Facebook’s new Oversight Board are under growing pressure after campaigners called for its US members to request more power from the social network or quit in protest.

The board is in danger of becoming a "toothless" body which provides cover for Facebook's misdeeds unless action is taken, activists at Accountable Tech warned in an open letter.

In what will be seen as a major challenge to all members, they called for the five US experts on the board to stand down unless it is given more freedom to tackle Facebook's problems.

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The Oversight Board was set up earlier this year and will function as a Supreme Court-style group, reviewing moderation decisions made by Facebook and potentially ordering decisions to be reserved. The group will also be able to suggest changes to Facebook’s policies.

However, activists argue that all real power remains with founder Mark Zuckerberg and the board will have little impact. Facebook has come under fire for a string of scandals, from allowing hostile powers to interfere in elections to permitting far-right hate speech.

Signed by Accountable Tech and eight other groups including Climate Power 2020 and the League of Conservation Voters, the letter demands stronger powers be given to Oversight Board members.

It says: “We humbly ask that you refuse to be complicit in this Facebook charade –– that you demand sweeping and immediate changes, or walk away."

Earlier this month, the Oversight Board announced that it will not start reviewing Facebook’s decisions until late Autumn.

Accountable Tech announced last month that it would spend $25,000 (£19,700) on Facebook adverts targeting the US-based members of the board.

Nicole Gill, the group’s executive director, said at the time: “It's unacceptable for the board to be sidelined and escape scrutiny.”

Mr Rusbridger said last week that he did not know enough about the differing cultures of Twitter and Facebook to explain why they took different decisions on moderating Donald Trump’s posts. Twitter has sought to correct factual inaccuracies on the US President's feed, while Facebook has taken no such action.

In a BBC interview, Mr Rusbridger said: “We all have noticed the difference between the Twitter response and the Facebook response.

“I don’t know enough about the culture of the few companies to explain why they came to different decisions.”