Rebuilding Public Trust in Social Media Platforms? A Case Study of Meta’s Oversight Board

Abstract

Social media platforms have become an integral part of everyday life. Power within the digital environment has become concentrated in a few dominant platforms because of user behaviour and platform design. This concentration allows these platforms to exert a strong influence on civic discourse and the public sphere. However, the growing prevalence of misinformation has transformed how public discussions unfold online.

Companies, such as Meta, have faced ongoing criticism for permitting harmful content to spread and for their misuse of user data. These companies’ ineffective responses to these issues have further undermined public trust. Trust plays a crucial role in the digital era. It determines whether users remain active and engaged on social media platforms. To restore public trust, Meta established the Oversight Board as an independent body to review user appeals for removing their content and to enhance transparency and accountability in content moderation.

This thesis investigates the effectiveness of Meta’s Oversight Board and examines its decision-making processes. Following the platform regulation triangle theory, this study employs the methodology of document analysis and semi-structured interviews. This study analyses Facebook’s regulatory history from 2010 to 2020 and evaluates Meta’s current strategies for addressing misinformation. This study’s findings contribute to broader debates on platform regulation and offer practical insights for other social media platforms seeking to improve content governance.