and reflect the diversity of users, taking into account their need for privacy and safety. He
explained that the decisions will be binding on the company, that those cases where many
users are impacted or are of critical importance to public discourse or that raise questions
about Facebook’s policies will be prioritised. He added that all decisions will be made public and
that Facebook will have to respond publicly to them. Finally, he explained that the Board will
aim to redress the "black box" problem of social media decision making by publishing decisions
and the rationale behind them. The Board will seek to illuminate its own decision-making on
important cases, and it will be subjecting that reasoning to scrutiny, including through a human
rights lens.
Dr. Andre Oboler, Social media and online public diplomacy expert and Managing
Director of Online Hate Prevention Institute noted that in order to address online hate it is
necessary to invest both economically and through political capital in real solutions; he stressed
that a major shift is necessary.
Dr. Oboler provided a significant number of recommendations to address online hate,
including the following ones: Governments can convene forums and give a platform to civil
society; with the right structure, a broad range of experts and secretarial support, a solid
picture can be created, even as technology and threats rapidly evolve. He mentioned that
defining grand challenges spurs work on solutions and that the solutions are strongest when
they can be discussed with peers and built on feedback. He explained that much of what we
learn tackling one form of online hate is equally applicable to other forms of online hate.
Dr. Oboler referred to the need of deep technical expertise to do this work, particularly
to keep up with new platforms and technological changes, and the existing skills gap. Dedicated
civil society organisations with the appropriate skills and a broad perspective working for all are
necessary, as well as collaboration between specialist civil society organisations and the people
who live the reality of online hate and the organisations that represent them.
Dr. Oboler concluded reminding that governments are increasingly adopting the
International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism,
which it is rapidly becoming a de facto standard, and it should be adopted by those that have
not done so. He added that social media companies should clearly and explicitly ban both
antisemitism and Holocaust denial and they should commit to using the IHRA Working
Definition of Antisemitism and the IHRA Working Definition of Holocaust Denial and Distortion
as tools to assist them in recognising and responding to online antisemitism. He stated that
similar definitions and broad consensus are needed on hate affecting many other minorities. He
explained that the work on antisemitism provides a model that should be applied to protect
other communities as well and that the IHRA itself has recently adopted a Working Definition of
anti-Roma hate, something Governments and Social Media Platforms should adopt and put into
practise.
Mr. Jerald Joseph, Commissioner of the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia
(SUHAKAM) stated that for decades equality has been a challenge in Malaysia because of the
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