(USA Today) The independent board that oversees content moderation of Facebook owner Meta is urging the company to loosen restrictions on “shaheed,” arguing the blanket ban on the Arabic word which has been used to praise acts of violence has led to widespread censorship of millions of users from Arabic-speaking and Muslim communities.
Under its current policy, Meta removes “shaheed” when it’s used in reference to people it classifies as dangerous.
That “blunt method” is “overbroad and disproportionately restricts freedom of expression and civic discourse,” by disregarding the word’s linguistic complexity and its many uses, and treating it instead as “the equivalent of the English word ‘martyr,’” said Oversight Board co-chair Helle Thorning-Schmidt.
