Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
The Meta Oversight Board says the company shouldn’t have accepted police demands to remove drill music — a rap genre some politicians and officials have blamed for gang violence — from its platform. The board says Instagram erred in banning a UK drill song after a request from London’s Metropolitan Police.
Additionally, the board is pushing Meta to offer more transparency about its relationship with law enforcement in the future, as well as stronger consideration of a work’s artistic context. Meta must reverse the ban and respond to policy recommendations within 60 days.
The board’s decision, published today, covers a January incident over a song called “Secrets Not Safe” by musician Chinx (OS). Police emailed Meta a request soon after…