Facebook Recruits Elite Academics, Lawyers for Content Board (1)

Facebook Inc. introduced the initial members of its oversight board, the group that will hear user appeals on content decisions and make binding judgment calls that could go against earlier decisions by the company.

So far, the board includes 20 academics, lawyers, journalists and human rights advocates. The largest social media company created the panel after criticism of Facebook’s extensive power, which is only growing: It has about 3 billion users now.

Helle Thorning-Schmidt

Photographer: Jasper Juinen/Bloomberg

“Up until now, some of the most difficult decisions have been made by Facebook and you could say Mark Zuckerberg,” Helle Thorning-Schmidt, oversight board co-chair ...