2025 Theses Bachelor's

Dangerous Individuals: A Policy Analysis of Meta Content Moderation Policy and International Human Rights Responses

Meschery-McCormack, Ruth

Content moderation has never been neutral. However, as the algorithms that shape social media platforms accelerate, a platform’s content moderation policies are the guide to forms of freedom of expression that shape our digital worlds interactions. In the balance between enforcing content moderation that protects users from hate speech and providing a dynamic platform that stimulates profit, platforms have replicated censorship trends that negatively impact users who are raising awareness for marginalized communities.

This thesis is an examination of how Meta’s Dangerous Organizations and Individuals policy has criminalized freedom of expression for those advocating for human rights issues. The policy analysis provided in this thesis indicates how internal policy negatively impacts users who are expressing freedom of speech and how Meta then responds to external reviews from human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch, reports from the United Nations and recommendations from the special rapporteur, and the Meta Oversight Board. In an effort to examine what the private social media platforms deem as just the right amount of intervention from human rights organizations, the thesis provides an analysis on the impacts of the policy on users and the internalization of the international response to these abuses.