Facebook’s new human rights policy, published today, is a significant step forward in the journey to embed human rights at Facebook. Based on @bsrnews #bizhumanrights experience with companies, here’s what to look for when reviewing the policy 1/9 about.fb.com/news/2021/03/o…
Human rights policies provide the groundwork for improved performance over time. Here the commitment to a wide range of international human rights instruments should provide an essential foundation 2/9
Stakeholders need transparency and disclosure to assess company progress against policy commitments. If implemented well, FB’s commitment to annual human rights reporting should enhance accountability for progress against the commitments 3/9
Good human rights policies describe a company’s most salient human rights impacts. However, all rights are potentially relevant in a social media context, and FB’s statement that their impacts vary across time, location, content, and affected communities is worth noting 4/9
Social media companies increasingly face local laws that conflict with international human rights standards. FB’s commitment to “honor the principles of internationally recognized human rights to the greatest extent possible” is consistent with UN Guiding Principles 5/9
Policy commitments should be reflected in company governance, oversight, and management. There is a section in the policy addressing this—and the degree to which FB can develop an integrated approach to civil and human rights is worth watching 6/9
UN Guiding Principles state that companies should aim for “policy coherence” across the business, including performance incentives. Obtaining and maintaining this, including business model and product questions, will be important in a rapidly changing social media industry. 7/9
Overall, BSR welcomes policy statements from companies as the basis for embedding their responsibility to respect human rights. The proof comes in how they are implemented through human rights due diligence, strategy, and access to remedy. 8/9
Disclosure: Facebook is a BSR member, and BSR advises Facebook on a range of human rights matters, including policy. BSR’s perspective on how social media platforms should address human rights can be found here bit.ly/2MIpeFE 9/9
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