Manipulated Biden video can remain online, Meta’s Oversight Board rules

A video on Facebook manipulated to suggest that President Joe Biden behaves inappropriately toward women can remain on the platform, but only because of a problematic loophole in Meta’s “incoherent” policies, the company’s Oversight Board said Monday.

The loophole threatens elections worldwide and should be closed as soon as possible, the quasi-judicial board added.

The video in question was posted last spring and showed Biden placing an “I Voted” sticker on his adult granddaughter’s chest — but the clip had been edited to make it seem as if he had touched her chest repeatedly and inappropriately, the Oversight Board said in deciding the case. The Board reviewed the case after a user who reported the video appealed Meta’s decision not to remove the content.

Meta’s manipulated media policy applies only to video that has been altered by artificial intelligence and that makes it appear as if a person said something they did not. The policy may be enforced only in situations where both conditions are fulfilled. The policy also does not apply to manipulated audio.