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94-486: The Oversight Board is a body that makes consequential precedent -setting content moderation decisions (see Table of decisions below) on the social media platforms Facebook and Instagram , in a form of "platform self-governance". Meta (then Facebook) CEO Mark Zuckerberg approved the creation of the board in November 2018, shortly after a meeting with Harvard Law School professor Noah Feldman , who had proposed

188-526: A French language -video in a Facebook group criticizing the Agence nationale de sécurité du médicament for its refusal to authorize hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin to treat COVID-19 . Facebook removed the post for spreading COVID-19 misinformation , which the board reversed, in part because the drugs mentioned are prescription drugs in France, which would require individuals seeking them to interact with

282-499: A common law court system has trial courts , intermediate appellate courts and a supreme court . Thus, the lower courts are bound to obey precedent established by the appellate court for their jurisdiction, and all supreme court precedent. The Supreme Court of California 's explanation of this principle is that [u]nder the doctrine of stare decisis , all tribunals exercising inferior jurisdiction are required to follow decisions of courts exercising superior jurisdiction. Otherwise,

376-602: A "racism debate". Later that month Chinese artist Ai Weiwei posed on the beach in a recreation of the position of the toddler's corpse at the time of the photographs. In March 2016 graffiti artists in Germany made an artistic political statement across from the headquarters of the European Central Bank (ECB) titled "Europa tot – Der Tod und das Geld", following these political artworks in January. In 2018,

470-400: A Facebook user posted a quote incorrectly attributed to Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels , stating that appeals to emotion and instinct are more important than appeals to truth. The post contained no images or symbols. Facebook took down the post under its policy prohibiting the promotion of dangerous individuals and organizations , including Goebbels. The account user appealed, asserting that

564-454: A decade. The board is able to hear appeals submitted by both Facebook and its users, and Facebook "will be required to respond publicly to any recommendations". Notably, while the initial remit of the board gave it broad scope to hear anything that can be appealed on Facebook, the company stated that it would take the building of technical infrastructure in order for this to extend beyond the appeal of removals of content. The entire Oversight Board

658-404: A determination as to the governing jurisdiction, a court is "bound" to follow a precedent of that jurisdiction only if it is directly in point. In the strongest sense, "directly in point" means that: (1) the question resolved in the precedent case is the same as the question to be resolved in the pending case, (2) resolution of that question was necessary to the disposition of the precedent case; (3)

752-548: A different three-judge panel. In federal systems the division between federal and state law may result in complex interactions. In the United States, state courts are not considered inferior to federal courts but rather constitute a parallel court system. In practice, however, judges in one system will almost always choose to follow relevant case law in the other system to prevent divergent results and to minimize forum shopping . Precedent that must be applied or followed

846-570: A focus on producing meaningful opinions in cases carefully selected to be representative of substantial issues. Facebook also developed software to enable it to transfer cases to the board without compromising user privacy. On April 13, 2021, the Oversight Board announced that it would start accepting appeals by users seeking to take down other people's content that had not been removed following an objection. The charter provides for future candidates to be nominated for board membership, through

940-715: A higher court. In civil law and pluralist systems, as under Scots law , precedent is not binding but case law is taken into account by the courts. A court may consider the ruling of a higher court that is not binding. For example, a district court in the United States First Circuit could consider a ruling made by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit as persuasive authority. Courts may consider rulings made in other courts that are of equivalent authority in

1034-426: A kind of super-stare decisis". The controversial idea that some decisions are virtually immune from being overturned, regardless of whether they were decided correctly in the first place, is the idea to which the term "super- stare decisis " now usually refers. The concept of super- stare decisis (or "super-precedent") was mentioned during the hearings of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito before

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1128-488: A physician. The board recommended that Facebook correct such misinformation rather than removing it. Although Facebook restored the post, it also noted that its approach to COVID-19 misinformation reflects the guidance of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization , and that it would therefore not change its approach to such matters. On February 12, 2021,

1222-557: A precedent is binding: In a conflict of laws situation, jus cogens norms erga omnes and principles of the common law such as in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights , to a varying degree in different jurisdictions, are deemed overriding which means they are used to "read down" legislation, that is giving them a particular purposive interpretation , for example applying European Court of Human Rights jurisprudence of courts ( case law ). "Super stare decisis "

1316-455: A recommendations portal operated by the U.S. law firm Baker McKenzie . The 20 members of the Oversight Board were announced on May 6, 2020. The co-chairs, who selected the other members jointly with Facebook, are former U.S. federal circuit judge and religious freedom expert Michael McConnell , constitutional law expert Jamal Greene , Colombian attorney Catalina Botero-Marino and former Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt . Among

1410-401: A series of photos, though it was the one initially retweeted on Twitter that is considered to have had the most international impact. This is also the image chosen by Dutch newspaper Trouw for their front page on 3 September 2015 after a female journalist published it on their website in the evening of 2 September 2015. Though the initially retweeted image carried the highest emotional impact,

1504-491: A similar way, but are not obliged to do so and are required to consider the precedent in terms of principle. Their fellow judges' decisions may be persuasive but are not binding. Under the English legal system, judges are not necessarily entitled to make their own decisions about the development or interpretations of the law. They may be bound by a decision reached in a previous case. Two facts are crucial to determining whether

1598-677: A sort of binding precedent when they answer legal questions that a court has not, either form of opinion may act as a source of law if they have a direct effect on the administration of government. The courts of England and Wales are free to consider decisions of other jurisdictions, and give them whatever persuasive weight the English court sees fit, even though these other decisions are not binding precedent. Jurisdictions that are closer to modern English common law are more likely to be given persuasive weight (for example Commonwealth states such as Canada, Australia, or New Zealand). Persuasive weight might be given to other common law courts, such as from

1692-571: A timed ban or a complete removal of the offending account, stating that Facebook must follow a "clear, published procedure" in the matter. On June 4, 2021, Facebook announced that it had changed the indefinite ban to a two-year suspension, ending on January 7, 2023. Trump's Facebook account was later reinstated in March 2023, with Meta saying the public should be allowed to hear from politicians, but that Trump would be subject to "heightened penalties" for repeated violations of its rules. In September 2021,

1786-415: Is a process that has its origins in the English common law. Most state attorney opinions address issues of government finance or the authority of political bodies within the state. Often, these opinions are the only available authority interpreting rarely‑litigated statutes and constitutional provisions. By and large, courts treat state attorney general opinions as persuasive authority. The opinions lack

1880-546: Is a term used for important precedent that is resistant or immune from being overturned, without regard to whether correctly decided in the first place. It may be viewed as one extreme in a range of precedential power, or alternatively, to express a belief, or a critique of that belief, that some decisions should not be overturned. In 1976, Richard Posner and William Landes coined the term "super-precedent" in an article they wrote about testing theories of precedent by counting citations. Posner and Landes used this term to describe

1974-438: Is known as binding precedent (alternately metaphorically precedent , mandatory or binding authority , etc.). Under the doctrine of stare decisis , a lower court must honor findings of law made by a higher court that is within the appeals path of cases the court hears. In state and federal courts in the United States of America, jurisdiction is often divided geographically among local trial courts, several of which fall under

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2068-406: Is not binding precedent but that is useful or relevant and that may guide the judge in making the decision in a current case. Persuasive precedent includes cases decided by lower courts, by peer or higher courts from other geographic jurisdictions, cases made in other parallel systems (for example, military courts, administrative courts, indigenous/tribal courts, state courts versus federal courts in

2162-477: Is not intentionally racist, use of blackface is a common racist trope. Facebook's deplatforming of U.S. President Donald Trump was not among the initial decisions as it was collecting comments from the public. On January 6, 2021, amidst an attack at the Capitol while Congress was counting the electoral votes, Trump posted a short video to social media in which he praised the rioters, despite urging them to end

2256-418: Is often hard to distinguish from the ratio decidendi (reason for the decision). For these reasons, the obiter dicta may often be taken into consideration by a court. A litigant may also consider obiter dicta if a court has previously signaled that a particular legal argument is weak and may even warrant sanctions if repeated. A case decided by a multijudge panel could result in a split decision. While only

2350-495: Is overseen by the Oversight Board Trust, which has the power to confirm or remove new board appointees, as well as ensure that the board is operating in accordance with its stated purpose. In legal terms, the Oversight Board actually is incorporated as a Delaware-based LLC , with the Oversight Board Trust as its only member. Board members indicated that the board would begin its work slowly and deliberately, with

2444-512: Is the mechanism to achieve that goal. Common-law precedent is a third kind of law, on equal footing with statutory law (that is, statutes and codes enacted by legislative bodies) and subordinate legislation (that is, regulations promulgated by executive branch agencies, in the form of delegated legislation (in UK parlance) or regulatory law (in US parlance)). Case law , in common-law jurisdictions,

2538-413: Is the set of decisions of adjudicatory tribunals or other rulings that can be cited as precedent. In most countries, including most European countries, the term is applied to any set of rulings on law, which is guided by previous rulings, for example, previous decisions of a government agency. Essential to the development of case law is the publication and indexing of decisions for use by lawyers, courts, and

2632-727: The Los Angeles Times titled "Banning Trump from Facebook may feel good. Here's why it might be wrong", but a spokesperson announced that she would not participate in the deliberations over the Trump's case and would be spending the upcoming weeks in training. On the same day Nossel's appointment was announced, the board also announced a new case. On May 5, 2021, the board announced its decision to uphold Trump's account suspension, but instructed Facebook to reassess their decision to indefinitely ban Trump within six months. The board specified that Facebook's standard procedures involve either

2726-624: The American Law Institute . Some bodies are given statutory powers to issue guidance with persuasive authority or similar statutory effect, such as the Highway Code . In federal or multijurisdictional law systems, conflicts may exist between the various lower appellate courts. Sometimes these differences may not be resolved and distinguishing how the law is applied in one district , province, division or appellate department may be necessary. Usually, only an appeal accepted by

2820-611: The High Court and the Court of Appeal are each bound by their own previous decisions. The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom is able to deviate from its earlier decisions, although in practice it rarely does so. A lower court may not rule against a binding precedent, even if the lower court feels that the precedent is wrong. Even if an intermediate judge issues a ruling inconsistent with existing or subsequent precedent, if

2914-582: The National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling , and as an advisor to non-profits, to become the company's Director of Global Affairs. Harris led the effort to create the board, reporting to Nick Clegg , who reported directly to Zuckerberg. Harris also credited Clegg's involvement, saying that efforts to establish the board "wouldn't have moved absent Nick's sponsorship", and that it

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3008-706: The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom , which took over the judicial functions of the House of Lords in 2009. In civil law and pluralist systems, precedent is not binding but case law is taken into account by the courts. Binding precedent relies on the legal principle of stare decisis . Stare decisis means to stand by things decided. It ensures certainty and consistency in the application of law. Existing binding precedent from past cases are applied in principle to new situations by analogy . One law professor has described mandatory precedent as follows: Given

3102-537: The common-law tradition, courts decide the law applicable to a case by interpreting statutes and applying precedent, which record how and why prior cases have been decided. Unlike most civil-law systems, common-law systems follow the doctrine of stare decisis , by which most courts are bound by their own previous decisions in similar cases, and all lower courts should make decisions consistent with previous decisions of higher courts. For example, in England and Wales,

3196-502: The court of last resort will resolve such differences, and for many reasons, such appeals are often not granted. Any court may seek to distinguish its present case from that of a binding precedent, to reach a different conclusion. The validity of such a distinction may or may not be accepted on appeal. An appellate court may also propound an entirely new and different analysis from that of junior courts, and may or may not be bound by its own previous decisions, or in any case may distinguish

3290-511: The legal certainty resulting from the binding effect of previous decisions, and on the other side the avoidance of undue restriction on the proper development of the law." Judges are bound by the law of binding precedent in England and Wales and other common law jurisdictions. This is a distinctive feature of the English legal system. In other countries, particularly in mainland Europe, civil law means that judges take case law into account in

3384-598: The Board overturned the removal of a Facebook forum post made in October 2020, containing an image of a TV character holding a sheathed sword, with Hindi text translated as stating "if the tongue of the kafir starts against the Prophet, then the sword should be taken out of the sheath", with hashtags equating French President Emmanuel Macron to the devil, and calling for a boycott of products from France. The board found that

3478-539: The District of Columbia alone, and up to seven states. Each panel of judges on the court of appeals for a circuit is bound to obey the prior appellate decisions of the same circuit. Precedent of a United States court of appeals may be overruled only by the court en banc , that is, a session of all the active appellate judges of the circuit, or by the United States Supreme Court —not simply by

3572-795: The Internet law. On April 20, 2021, its newest board member, PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel , was appointed to replace Pamela S. Karlan , who had resigned in February 2021 to join the Biden administration . As of 2021, the United States has the most substantial representation with five members, including two of the four co-chairs of the board. Two board members come from South American countries, six come from countries all across Asia, three come from Africa including one with both African and European ties, who also counts towards three coming from Europe, and one comes from Australia. Facebook's introduction of

3666-453: The Oversight Board elicited a variety of responses, with St. John's University law professor Kate Klonick describing its creation as an historic endeavor, and technology news website The Verge deeming it "a wild new experiment in platform governance". Politico described it as "an unapologetically globalist mix of academic experts, journalists and political figures". Even before the board made its first decisions, critics speculated that

3760-630: The Second Circuit (New York and surrounding states) is especially respected in commercial and securities law, the Seventh Circuit (in Chicago), especially Judge Posner, is highly regarded on antitrust, and the District of Columbia Circuit is highly regarded on administrative law. The doctrine of vertical precedent states that each court is bound by the decisions of higher courts in its jurisdictional area or tribunal hierarchy. Generally,

3854-638: The Senate Judiciary Committee. Prior to the commencement of the Roberts hearings, the committee chair, Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, wrote an op-ed in The New York Times referring to Roe as a "super-precedent". He revisited this concept during the hearings, but neither Roberts nor Alito endorsed the term or the concept. Persuasive precedent (also persuasive authority ) is precedent or other legal writing that

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3948-551: The Supreme Court says that the First Amendment applies in a specific way to suits for slander, then every court is bound by that precedent in its interpretation of the First Amendment as it applies to suits for slander. If a lower court judge disagrees with a higher court precedent on what the First Amendment should mean, the lower court judge must rule according to the binding precedent. Until the higher court changes

4042-401: The U.S. legal system, courts are set up in a hierarchy. At the top of the federal or national system is the Supreme Court, and underneath are lower federal courts. The state court systems have hierarchical structures similar to that of the federal system. The U.S. Supreme Court has final authority on questions about the meaning of federal law, including the U.S. Constitution. For example, when

4136-479: The United States), statements made in dicta , treatises or academic law reviews , and in some exceptional circumstances, cases of other nations, treaties, world judicial bodies, etc. In a " case of first impression ", courts often rely on persuasive precedent from courts in other jurisdictions that have previously dealt with similar issues. Persuasive precedent may become binding through its adoption by

4230-727: The United States, most often where the American courts have been particularly innovative, e.g. in product liability and certain areas of contract law. Nil%C3%BCfer Demir Nilüfer Demir (born 1986) is a Turkish photojournalist based in Bodrum , Turkey. She has worked with the Doğan News Agency since she was a teenager. She covered the European migrant crisis during the summer of 2015, and her photographs of Alan Kurdi became world news on 2 September 2015. She came across

4324-631: The Virgin Islands) is bound by rulings of the Third Circuit Court, but not by rulings in the Ninth Circuit (Alaska, Arizona, California, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Northern Mariana Islands, Oregon, and Washington), since the Circuit Courts of Appeals have jurisdiction defined by geography. The Circuit Courts of Appeals can interpret the law how they want, so long as there is no binding Supreme Court precedent. One of

4418-437: The appellate court will have the opportunity to review both the precedent and the case under appeal, perhaps overruling the previous case law by setting a new precedent of higher authority. This may happen several times as the case works its way through successive appeals. Lord Denning , first of the High Court of Justice , later of the Court of Appeal , provided a famous example of this evolutionary process in his development of

4512-423: The block would remain at least until the end of Trump's term on January 20. On April 16, 2021, the board announced that it was delaying the decision on whether to overturn Trump's suspensions on Facebook and Instagram to sometime "in the coming weeks" in order to review the more than 9,000 public comments it had received. Notably, on January 27, 2021, incoming board member Suzanne Nossel had published an op-ed in

4606-437: The board announced it would review Facebook's internal XCheck system, which fully exempted high-profile users from some of the platform's rules and regulations as well as partially exempting less high-profile users with their posts subjected only to Facebook's content review. This program was a separate system and queue, intended only for around 5.8 million users. The board's quarterly report, issued on October 21, 2021, stated that

4700-413: The board would be too strict, too lenient, or otherwise ineffective. In May 2020, Republican Senator Josh Hawley described the board as a "special censorship committee". Other critics expressed doubts that it would be effective, leading to the creation of an unrelated and unaffiliated group of "vocal Facebook critics" calling itself the "Real Facebook Oversight Board". Facebook issued no official comment on

4794-448: The body of Kurdi on the beach and took a number of photos. She said that she felt "petrified" upon seeing the corpse of the toddler. Then she took the pictures to share her feelings. Demir's photograph of Kurdi has been compared with iconic photos that changed the world. Her photograph accompanied by hashtag "KiyiyaVuranInsanlik" (English: humanity washed ashore) became the top trending topic on Twitter. In March 2016 her photograph

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4888-441: The case is not vacated on appeal the decision will stand. If the court believes that developments or trends in legal reasoning render the precedent unhelpful, and wishes to evade it and help the law evolve, the court may either hold that the precedent is inconsistent with subsequent authority, or that the precedent should be "distinguished" by some material difference between the facts of the cases. If that decision goes to appeal,

4982-515: The coming months". On May 6, 2020, Facebook announced the 20 members that would make up the Oversight Board. Facebook's VP of Global Affairs and Communications Nick Clegg described the group as having a "wide range of views and experiences" and who collectively lived in "over 27 countries", speaking "at least 29 languages, but a quarter of the group and two of the four co-chairs are from the United States, which some free speech and internet governance experts expressed concerns about. In July 2020 it

5076-404: The common reasons the Supreme Court grants certiorari (that is, they agree to hear a case) is if there is a conflict among the circuit courts as to the meaning of a federal law. There are three elements needed for a precedent to work. Firstly, the hierarchy of the courts needs to be accepted, and an efficient system of law reporting. "A balance must be struck between the need on one side for

5170-424: The company that she previously shared with The Wall Street Journal and United States Senate Commerce Committee 's Sub-Committee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Data Security. As the Oversight Board is not a tribunal, court of law, or quasi-judicial body, it is not guided by enabling legislation created by any government. Instead, a corporate charter , bylaws, and series of governing documents set out

5264-564: The company was not transparent about the XCheck program and did not provide the board with complete information upon which to conduct a review. The board also noted that the company's lack of transparency with users about reasons for content deletion was unfair. In response, the company stated that it would aim for greater clarity in the future. In October 2021, the board announced that it would be meeting with former Facebook employee and whistleblower, Frances Haugen , to discuss her statements about

5358-532: The concept of estoppel starting in the High Trees case: Central London Property Trust Ltd v. High Trees House Ltd [1947] K.B. 130. Judges may refer to various types of persuasive authority to reach a decision in a case. Widely cited nonbinding sources include legal encyclopedias such as Corpus Juris Secundum and Halsbury's Laws of England , or the published work of the Law Commission or

5452-612: The creation of a quasi-judiciary on Facebook to oversee content moderation , CEO Mark Zuckerberg approved the creation of the board. Among the board's goals were to improve the fairness of the appeals process, give oversight and accountability from an outside source, and increase transparency. The board was modeled after the United States' federal judicial system , as the Oversight Board gives precedential value to previous board decisions. Between late 2017 and early 2018, Facebook had hired Brent C. Harris , who had previously worked on

5546-568: The creation of a quasi-judiciary on Facebook. Zuckerberg originally described it as a kind of " Supreme Court ", given its role in settlement, negotiation, and mediation, including the power to override the company's decisions. Zuckerberg first announced the idea in November 2018, and, after a period of public consultation, the board's 20 founding members were announced in May 2020. The board officially began its work on October 22, 2020, and issued its first five decisions on January 28, 2021, with four out of

5640-562: The decisions based on significant differences in the facts applicable to each case. Or, a court may view the matter before it as one of " first impression ", not governed by any controlling precedent. When various members of a multi-judge court write separate opinions, the reasoning may differ; only the ratio decidendi of the majority becomes binding precedent. For example, if a 12-member court splits 5–2–3–2 in four different opinions on several different issues, whatever reasoning commands seven votes on each specific issue becomes precedent, and

5734-525: The doctrine of stare decisis makes no sense. The decisions of this court are binding upon and must be followed by all the state courts of California. Decisions of every division of the District Courts of Appeal are binding upon all the justice and municipal courts and upon all the superior courts of this state , and this is so whether or not the superior court is acting as a trial or appellate court. Courts exercising inferior jurisdiction must accept

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5828-684: The effort, while Slate described it as "a citizen campaign against the board". Legal affairs blogger Evelyn Douek noted that the board's initial decisions "strike at matters fundamental to the way Facebook designs its content moderation system and clearly signal that the FOB does not intend to play mere occasional pitstop on Facebook's journey to connect the world". Precedent Common law legal systems often view precedent as binding or persuasive, while civil law systems do not. Common-law systems aim for similar facts to yield similar and predictable outcomes, and observing precedent when making decisions

5922-536: The ethnic slur taziks . The board found that the post was harmful to the safety and dignity of Azerbaijanis, and therefore upheld its removal. In October 2020, a Brazilian woman posted a series of images on Facebook subsidiary Instagram including uncovered breasts with a visible nipple , as part of an international campaign to raise breast cancer awareness. The photographs were asserted to show breast cancer symptoms, and indicated this in text in Portuguese , which

6016-409: The five overturning Facebook's actions with respect to the matters appealed. It has been subject to substantial media speculation and coverage since its announcement, and has remained so following the referral of Facebook's decision to suspend Donald Trump after the 2021 United States Capitol attack . In November 2018, after meeting with Harvard Law School professor Noah Feldman , who had proposed

6110-433: The force of law that statutes and judicial opinions have. But, they still have the potential to act as a sort of pseudo‑law if they constrain the activities of public officials or the public. Oftentimes, this effect depends on the "formality" of the opinion. Opinions can be either formal, meaning they are published, or informal, meaning that they are sent directly to the opinion requestor. Although formal opinions can act as

6204-429: The general public, in the form of law reports . A precedent is a historical setting example for the future (though at varying levels of authority as discussed throughout this article), some become "leading cases" or "landmark decisions" that are cited especially often. Generally speaking, a legal precedent may be: In contrast, civil law systems adhere to a legal positivism , where past decisions do not usually have

6298-441: The hierarchy. A district court, for example, could not rely on a Supreme Court dissent as a basis to depart from the reasoning of the majority opinion. However, lower courts occasionally cite dissents, either for a limiting principle on the majority, or for propositions that are not stated in the majority opinion and not inconsistent with that majority, or to explain a disagreement with the majority and to urge reform (while following

6392-477: The human rights of women, and recommended improvements to the decision-making process for the removal of such posts. In particular, the board recommended that users be informed of the use of automated content review mechanisms, that Instagram community standards be revised to expressly permit images with female nipples in breast cancer awareness posts, and that Facebook should clarify that its community standards take precedence over those of Instagram. In October 2020,

6486-633: The influential effect of a cited decision. The term "super-precedent" later became associated with different issue: the difficulty of overturning a decision. In 1992, Rutgers professor Earl Maltz criticized the Supreme Court's decision in Planned Parenthood v. Casey for endorsing the idea that if one side can take control of the Court on an issue of major national importance (as in Roe v. Wade ), that side can protect its position from being reversed "by

6580-494: The initial cohort were: former European Court of Human Rights judge András Sajó , Internet Sans Frontières Executive Director Julie Owono, Yemeni activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Tawakkol Karman , former editor-in-chief of The Guardian Alan Rusbridger , Pakistani digital rights advocate Nighat Dad , and Ronaldo Lemos , lawyer that created the Brazilian Civil Rights Framework for

6674-473: The law declared by courts of superior jurisdiction. It is not their function to attempt to overrule decisions of a higher court. The doctrine stating that a judge is bound by (or at least should respect) previous decisions by the same court is called horizontal stare decisis . For example, in the United States federal court system , the intermediate appellate courts are divided into thirteen "circuits", each covering some range of territory ranging in size from

6768-453: The legal system. For example, an appellate court for one district could consider a ruling issued by an appeals court in another district. Courts may consider obiter dicta in the opinions of higher courts. The Dicta of a higher court, though not binding, will often be persuasive to lower courts. The phrase obiter dicta is usually translated as "other things said", but due to the high number of judges and individual concurring opinions, it

6862-436: The majority in the outcome). Courts may consider the writings of eminent legal scholars in treatises, restatements of the law, and law reviews. The extent to which judges find these types of writings persuasive will vary widely with elements such as the reputation of the author and the relevance of the argument. In the United States, every state attorney general is permitted to issue advisory opinions on questions of law. It

6956-416: The majority opinion is considered precedential, an outvoted judge can still publish a dissenting opinion. Common patterns for dissenting opinions include: A judge in a subsequent case, particularly in a different jurisdiction, could find the dissenting judge's reasoning persuasive. In the jurisdiction of the original decision, however, a judge should only overturn the holding of a court lower or equivalent in

7050-484: The one most commonly chosen became a photo of the toddler seen from the side, with an aid worker approaching from the right. Time Magazine selected this image also for its "Top 100 Photos of 2015". Time published an update on Demir's photo of the boy seen from the side in a one-year anniversary update on their choice of this aid-worker photo, mentioning that it was also shared on social media "by thousands of people" Other news agencies decided to select other photos of

7144-402: The parties before them pertaining to the same pattern of facts or events, unless they have a strong reason to change these rulings. In law , a binding precedent (also known as a mandatory precedent or binding authority) is a precedent which must be followed by all lower courts under common law legal systems . In English law it is usually created by the decision of a higher court, such as

7238-509: The phrasing of the principle in the Latin maxim Stare decisis et non quieta movere : "to stand by decisions and not disturb the undisturbed". In a legal context, this means that courts should abide by precedent and not disturb settled matters. The principle can be divided into two components: The second principle, regarding persuasive precedent , reflects the broad precedent guidance a court may draw upon in reaching all of its decisions. In

7332-415: The post was intended as a commentary on Donald Trump . The board found that the evidence supported this assertion and held that post did not indicate support for Goebbels, and ordered that it be restored, with the recommendation that Facebook should indicate to users posting about such persons that "the user must make clear that they are not praising or supporting them". In October 2020, a French user posted

7426-403: The post was not likely to cause harm. On April 13, 2021, the board upheld the removal of a Facebook post by a Dutch Facebook containing a 17-second video of a child and three adults wearing traditional Dutch " Sinterklaas " costumes, including two white adults dressed as Zwarte Piet (Black Pete), with faces painted black and wearing Afro wigs. The board found that although the cultural tradition

7520-583: The post, the board sought a re-translation of the post, and noted that the post could be read as an insult directed towards Muslims, but could also be read as commentary on a perceived inconsistency of reactions by Muslims to the events in France and China addressed. A post showing churches in Baku , Azerbaijan was captioned with a statement in Russian that "asserted that Armenians had historical ties with Baku that Azerbaijanis didn't", referring to Azerbaijanis with

7614-407: The precedential, binding effect that they have in common law decision-making; the judicial review practiced by constitutional courts can be regarded as a notable exception. Stare decisis ( / ˈ s t ɛər r i d ɪ ˈ s aɪ s ɪ s , ˈ s t ɑː r eɪ / ) is a legal principle by which judges are obligated to respect the precedent established by prior decisions. The words originate from

7708-476: The psychology or the mindset of Muslims or Muslim men. The text further contrasted terrorist attacks in France in response to depictions of Muhammad with an asserted relative silence by Muslims in response to the persecution of Uyghurs in China , and asserted that this conduct had led to a loss of sympathy for those like the child in the photograph. The post was reinstated In reviewing Facebook's decision to remove

7802-429: The ruling (or the law itself is changed), the binding precedent is authoritative on the meaning of the law. Lower courts are bound by the precedent set by higher courts within their region. Thus, a federal district court that falls within the geographic boundaries of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals (the mid-level appeals court that hears appeals from district court decisions from Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and

7896-546: The same dead toddler with a rescue worker in the image, such as one with the lifeless corpse in the arms of an aid worker. The photo of Alan Kurdi seen from the side, which partially shows the child's face, was re-used later on 6 January 2016 for a comic by Charlie Hebdo referring to the New Year's Eve sexual assaults in Germany for their anniversary edition commemorating the Charlie Hebdo shooting , which sparked

7990-642: The scope and powers of the Board. Opinions written by the board reference Meta's corporate human rights policy, which "voluntarily incorporates the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights , the International Bill of Human Rights , and numerous international human rights treaties". In order to ensure the board's independence, Facebook established an irrevocable trust with $ 130 million in initial funding, expected to cover operational costs for over half

8084-408: The seven-judge majorities may differ issue-to-issue. All may be cited as persuasive (though of course opinions that concur in the majority result are more persuasive than dissents). Quite apart from the rules of precedent, the weight actually given to any reported opinion may depend on the reputation of both the court and the judges with respect to the specific issue. For example, in the United States,

8178-400: The significant facts of the precedent case are also presented in the pending case, and (4) no additional facts appear in the pending case that might be treated as significant. In extraordinary circumstances a higher court may overturn or overrule mandatory precedent, but will often attempt to distinguish the precedent before overturning it, thereby limiting the scope of the precedent. Under

8272-476: The territory of a regional appeals court. All appellate courts fall under a highest court (sometimes but not always called a "supreme court"). By definition, decisions of lower courts are not binding on courts higher in the system, nor are appeals court decisions binding on local courts that fall under a different appeals court. Further, courts must follow their own proclamations of law made earlier on other cases, and honor rulings made by other courts in disputes among

8366-401: The violence, and reiterated his baseless claim that the 2020 presidential election was fraudulent. Several platforms, including Facebook, removed it, with Facebook's vice president of integrity, Guy Rosen, explaining that the video "contributes to rather than diminishes the risk of ongoing violence". That day, Facebook also blocked Trump's ability to post new content; the next day, Facebook said

8460-420: The website's automated review system failed to understand. The images were removed and then later restored. Facebook asked that the review be dropped as moot, but the board chose to review the action nonetheless, finding that the importance of the issue made it more beneficial for the board to render a judgment on the underlying question. The board further held that removal of the post was improper, as it impacted

8554-670: Was "stalled within the company until Nick really took it on". In January 2019, Facebook received a draft charter for the board and began a period of public consultations and workshops with experts, institutions, and people around the world. In June 2019, Facebook released a 250-page report summarizing its findings and announced that they are in the process of looking for people to serve on a 40-person board (the board ended up having 20 members). In January 2020, it appointed British human rights expert and former Article 19 Executive Director Thomas Hughes as Director of Oversight Board Administration. It also said that board members would be named "in

8648-504: Was announced that the board would not start work until "later in the year". It starting accepting cases on October 22, 2020. Members of the board have noted that it will take several years for the full impact of the board and its decisions to be understood. The board officially began to cover cases related to Threads in May 2024. On January 28, 2021, the board ruled on five moderation decisions made by Facebook, overturning four of them and upholding one. All but one were unanimous. Each ruling

8742-526: Was decided by a majority vote of a panel of five members of the board, including at least one member from the region where the moderated post originated. In October 2020, a Facebook user in Myanmar posted images of photographs taken by Turkish photojournalist Nilüfer Demir of the corpse of Kurdish Syrian toddler Alan Kurdi , accompanied by text in Burmese to the effect that there was "something wrong" with

8836-563: Was the subject of a Dutch documentary about iconic photos, and specifically why this photo was not selected for the World Press Photo , though it had resulted in many different reactions across Europe that changed the attitude of many people about the European migrant crisis. The winning World Press photo of 2015 showed a child migrant that successfully crossed into Europe and thus communicated hope rather than despair. Demir took

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