Report: “Secret Facebook Program Reportedly Let Celebrities Avoid Moderation”

Facebook maintains a secret program to exempt athletes, politicians, and other high-profile users from its typical moderation process, according to The Wall Street Journal. The program is reportedly meant to stop “PR fires,” or bad press caused by pulling down photos, posts, and other content from high-profile users that should have been allowed to stay up. In reality, the program just lets these users break the rules in ways that would have gotten most people into trouble, according to the report.

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Facebook told the Journal that criticism of XCheck was warranted and the company is working to fix the program.

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From CNBC

That [WSJ] report, which cites internal Facebook documents, said there were at least 5.8 million VIP Facebook users in 2020.

Among them is soccer star Neymar. In 2019, he posted nude photos of a woman who had accused him of rape to his Facebook accounts, according to the report. This type of content would have typically been removed, but XCheck protected Neymar’s account and blocked Facebook moderators from taking it down right away.

Ultimately, 56 million Facebook and Instagram users saw Neymar’s content, according to the report.

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See Also: Facebook Says Its Rules Apply to All. Company Documents Reveal a Secret Elite That’s Exempt. (via WSJ, Subscribers Only)