Privatized Justice and Algorithmic Governance: The Real Reach of the Facebook Oversight Board

Abstract

This article examines the Facebook/Meta Oversight Board as a private governance mechanism for content moderation and assesses its effective influence over automated moderation. Given the structural opacity of proprietary algorithmic systems, the study adopts qualitative documentary analysis with a comparative case logic, focusing exclusively on the Board’s recommendations and Meta’s implementation responses across four emblematic cases. The findings reveal a persistent tension: while the Board can issue binding decisions in individual cases, its systemic recommendations—especially those aimed at the technical core of visibility governance (ranking, matching banks, cross-check, and transparency metrics)—are implemented only partially, deferred through feasibility language, or closed without further action. The article argues that this configuration consolidates a model of privatized justice, marked by weakened algorithmic due process and limited external observability.