Violation of basic human rights by social networks Facebook and Instagram (Meta)
My name is Elena. My accounts Elena Wise on Facebook and Instagram were blocked without warning on May 20, 2024, with the reasoning "for sexual exploitation of adults." This seemingly humorous situation is, in fact, a very serious precedent. Therefore, I am reaching out to you for support, as I believe this blockage is mistaken. The policies and rules of Facebook, the use of artificial intelligence for decision-making, pose a threat to public safety and the rights to self-expression and anonymity of internet users. Additionally, Facebook's policy is potentially dangerous for a broad range of conscientious users, especially children and women, as it still allows malicious actors to realize their criminal plans against children and women while hiding behind fake accounts. At the same time, this policy hinders ordinary people from freely exercising their rights to self-determination, self-expression, and communication.
Problem Description:
I am an aspiring digital artist, photographer, and designer. The content published on my account consists exclusively of my artistic works—images and videos created by me, generated or adjusted by neural networks, and subsequently digitally processed. None of the materials depicted real people. All models are a product of digital art, which is clearly stated in the account information. In three months, I gained more than 6000 followers. During this period, I did not forcibly add anyone as friends, and a warning about the content of the page was posted and pinned on my profile. Moreover, I have never initiated contact with people added to friends to avoid causing inconvenience. My publications consist of designer solutions for women's clothing and luxury lingerie, as well as artistic and creative content. Unfortunately, Facebook incorrectly assessed this content, leading to the unjust blocking of my account. None of the images violate Facebook’s community standards as of 20.05.2024: Facebook Community Standards on Adult Sexual Exploitation
Anyone can verify this, as all the materials are also available on my Telegram channel: ElenaWiseSecrets
Since Facebook does not provide any real reasons for the block, I believe it was caused by an inadequate assessment by Facebook's artificial intelligence system and possibly the bias or incompetence of someone among the "40,000 experts" who are supposed to manually verify the evaluation results, if such a review was conducted at all. Additionally, it could be due to complaints from an organized group of individuals posing as "Facebook profilers," attempting to extort money, document photos, or other personal information protected by EU law by threatening to report the account as fake to Facebook.
According to European Union legislation, social network users have the right to self-expression, including the use of social networks to convey their artistic and design vision. The right to anonymity is also protected by EU law. I am not obliged to provide my real name, surname, date of birth, profile photo, or account information. However, Facebook’s policy distorts these rights by imposing extrajudicial censorship and requiring the disclosure of personal data, which poses a threat to user security. I believe Facebook blocked my account based on complaints from users I had previously blocked for harassment or extortion. To restore access to my account and file an appeal, Facebook demands the upload of documents verifying my identity, although my account is not commercial and not monetized. I have never requested payment for my materials. However, none of the uploaded documents containing all necessary data pass Facebook's automatic check, contradicting their own rules and blocking access to my account. Technical support involving live people at Facebook is nonexistent, making it impossible to resolve the access issue without having access to the account. None of my emails sent to the company addresses found online received a reply. During my independent search for solutions to this problem on the internet, I realized that my case is far from unique.
Starting with a personal situation, I want to emphasize that it also has public significance. I live in the European Union, on one of the smaller islands. As a woman, I have repeatedly faced threats and harassment on Facebook from individuals attempting to impose their own sense of morality on me. Therefore, I strive to maintain anonymity to protect myself while popularizing my work. In the event of my identity being revealed, the likelihood of persecution significantly increases due to the small size of the island and the limited social circle. Facebook does not provide sufficient tools to protect against these threats, neglects properly addressing complaints of such harassment, and thus provokes harassment and persecution of women and, in my case, photographers and artists in real life.
At the same time, Facebook's functionality for reporting inappropriate user behavior, such as distributing pornographic materials or threats in the messenger, theoretically exists, but these complaints go unanswered, and such users' accounts are not blocked. The lack of effective blocking for accounts with genuinely pornographic content poses a real problem for the mental health of young women and minor children.
Facebook, being a de facto monopolist in the social networking sphere with over 2 billion users, exercises extrajudicial and unappealable censorship of content without allowing users the opportunity to achieve fair account restoration. This includes accounts blocked by coordinated complaints from "professional complainers." It appears that the creators of these Facebook rules live in a make-believe world of unicorns and pink ponies, rather than in a real society where malicious users can report others' accounts out of envy, hatred, revenge, etc., and do this with impunity because Facebook does not conduct checks. Moreover, there are numerous online offerings for organizing "complaint" campaigns against any material or profile to achieve its blockage in this manner. According to the organizers of these attacks, Facebook's automated complaint processing system blocks the account without verifying the substance of the mass complaints. Conscientious users invest significant material and time resources into creating and promoting their accounts. All this work can be destroyed at any moment with the press of a button, for the price of a dinner. This threatens our democratic rights to freedom of speech and self-expression. Existing rules and processes of Facebook undermine users' confidence in their safety and legal protection.
Request:
I urge Facebook to:
Review its policy, cease blocking my content that does not violate community standards, and immediately restore the Elena Wise account.Exclude automatic account blocking based on "mass complaints" from colluded users or those organized "on request" to counter extortion against new and actively growing accounts.
Publish clear and transparent criteria used by artificial intelligence and moderators in evaluating content and user behavior. Terms like "too sexual" and "suspicious activity" are unacceptable as they are subjective and dependent on the social and cultural context of the moderator. Such an approach leads to abuse. The criteria should be published so users can independently check compliance with their content or actions. In cases where content potentially exceeds these criteria, the user should be informed.
Since Facebook users belong to diverse social and cultural groups, it is impossible to establish universally acceptable content requirements. The same photograph can evoke delight or affection in some, while causing stress, depression, or psychosomatic allergic reactions in others. Prohibiting publications to "please everyone" is physically impossible; otherwise, as stated earlier, everything should be banned. Consequently, it is necessary to introduce content categorization, including by age. Restrict access to such content according to users' personal preferences and age categories. Users sending such content in private messages to recipients who have indicated in their settings that they do not wish to see such content should be warned of the prohibition and, if violated, be temporarily blocked pending review. The final decision on blocking should be based on verification by individuals from the same socio-cultural background as the content creator.
Ensure the user's right to anonymity on the internet. Account registration can be done using real names as stated in documents, but users should be allowed to use any pseudonyms in public information to avoid de-anonymization and subsequent persecution. The existing mechanism of additional profiles does not solve the problem!
Make the account holder's identity verification function strictly voluntary and free, mandatory only if the account is monetized. In other cases, adult users should understand the risks of interacting with unverified accounts.
Do not delete user accounts without warning and the possibility of appeal via email with a real live person, not just on the Facebook platform. Even in courts, there are several instances to avoid errors. Given the significance of social networks in people's lives, losing an account could be equivalent to losing a business or years of work, and for some, even comparable to civil death. Artificial intelligence should not make such decisions!
I call on the public to support this initiative aimed at protecting digital rights and freedoms, as well as combating unjust censorship and monopoly.
Support me by signing this petition and help achieve justice, protecting our rights and ensuring freedom of expression and anonymity on the internet! Let's make the Facebook platform truly convenient and safe for all user categories.