Meta has said it will lift its blanket ban, opens new tab on the word “shaheed” or “martyr” in English, after a review that lasted a year by its oversight board found the social media giant’s approach was overbroad.
The tech giant company has been criticised over its dealing of content involving the Middle East, including in a 2021 study Meta itself commissioned that found its approach, opens new tab had an “adverse human rights impact” on Palestinians and other Arabic-speaking users of its services.
The criticism has increased since the start of hostilities between Israel and Hamas in October last year.
The oversight board started its review last year because the word accounted for more content removals on the firm’s platforms than any other single word or phrase. Meta is Facebook and Instagram’s parent company.
In March, the review found that Meta’s rules on “shaheed” failed to account for the word’s variety of meanings and resulted in the removal of content not aimed at praising violent actions.
Meta endorsed the findings of the review and said its tests showed that removing content when “shaheed” was paired with otherwise violating content captures the most potentially harmful content without disproportionally impacting the voice.
The board welcomed the change and said Meta’s policy related to the word had led to the censoring of millions of people across its platforms.
