Facebook mulls content oversight board for online safety |

To keep the online community safe, Facebook is planning to set up an oversight board to review some of its most challenging and contentious content decisions.

According to Facebook’s Vice President on Product Partnerships, Ime Archibong, in putting the body together, the social media platform will be getting wide input from local experts, including academics and civil society, from across the world on how this independent body could work.

He explained that as part of Facebook’s information gathering and consultation process, it would be hosting a workshop in Nairobi, Kenya, in few weeks’ time, with participants from across the continent.

“We are incredibly excited about deeply engaging with this group on the hard questions relating to content on our platforms. We recognise that this is a complex process that will strengthen how we exercise our responsibility to users.

“To be clear, we are not asking a group of experts to make decisions for us; we are asking for their insight to help inform our thinking and hold us accountable. We will still be making hard decisions every day, and we accept the full weight of that responsibility,” Archibong said.

He explained that as currently envisioned, the board would consist about 40 global experts with experience in content, privacy, free expression, human rights, journalism and safety.

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Internet Group (NIG), which comprises information communication technology (ICT) experts, is set to hold its first webmasters’ summit with theme ‘How to run your own web’.

The summit slated for March 23 at Golden Gate Restaurant, Ikoyi, Lagos, will start by 10am.

Expected at the summit are all webmasters, developers, bloggers and web entrepreneur and group members.

According to the NIG president, Destiny Amana, the conference will begin with a lecture for Webmaster Entrepreneurs in the morning, followed by Web MasterClass on ‘How to run your own Web Hosting Company’ from 2pm for members of NIG.

On the motive behind the summit, Amana said “opportunities abound on the Internet, and NIG recognises that to make these opportunities come true, entrepreneurs need to get their hands on efficient, honest and experienced web developers.

NIG, founded in 1995, is a not-for-profit, non-governmental organisation, promoting the Internet in Nigeria.