May 28 - Meta Platforms has committed additional financial support to its independent Oversight Board to ensure the watchdog can operate through 2028, the board said on Thursday.
The board noted that the new contributions will be added to its trust. Co-chair Paolo Carozza confirmed the funding placement and said Meta still refers complex content-moderation cases to the board and continues to act on the board's recommendations. The Oversight Board did not disclose the size of the extra funding.
In 2024, Meta had pledged at least $30 million per year for the following three years, according to a statement from the watchdog. The Oversight Board is composed of outside experts charged with issuing binding decisions and non-binding recommendations on content questions affecting the company's social media services.
The board has played a visible role in reviewing Meta's moderation choices. In April 2025 it sharply rebuked the parent of Instagram for what the board described as "hastily" dismantling U.S. fact-checking operations and easing restrictions on sensitive topics such as immigration and gender identity.
Those moderation rollbacks were initiated by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in January 2025, when he argued that prior efforts had resulted in "too much censorship." Among the changes implemented was a move toward a crowdsourced "community notes" system. Observers widely viewed the adjustments as an attempt to reduce conservative criticism and align with the incoming Trump administration.
Meta's renewed commitment to underwriting the board's work comes against a backdrop of intense scrutiny of social platforms' responsibilities. Companies in the sector are navigating pressures to preserve open expression while managing misinformation and incorporating artificial intelligence into content decisions.
While the board emphasized the continuation of case referrals and company responses to its recommendations, the undisclosed amount of the new funding leaves the scale of the commitment unclear. The board's prior public estimate of at least $30 million per year over a three-year span in 2024 remains the most specific funding figure disclosed to date.
What the Oversight Board does
The board issues binding rulings and advisory recommendations on content matters across Meta's platforms. It acts as an external layer of review for difficult moderation decisions referred by the company.
Recent points of contention
In early 2025, changes to moderation policy - including a reduction in U.S. fact-checking operations and the adoption of a crowdsourced approach to content context - prompted a strong response from the board. The sequence of policy shifts and the board's reaction underline ongoing tensions between platform governance, public debate, and political dynamics.