Inside Facebook's conscience

Mark Zuckerberg established the oversight board to investigate how Meta handles controversial posts. Two years in, the panel's members want to expand their mission and transform the way social platforms work.

- By Steven Levy. Ilustrations by Deena Soo'teh

On the morning of Thursday, June 30, 2022, two large luxury buses pulled up to a grand hotel in Menlo Park, California.

Milling on the driveway were the members, staffers, and trustees of the Oversight Board. Set up two years ago by Facebook, now Meta, this august gaggle exists to second-guess the company's most controversial actions. The board members, who'd already logged countless hours on video calls and email, were spending their first week together in person. The buses rumbled off, whisking the 23 Zoom buddies to Meta's headquarters 4 miles away.

The group made its way across the mammoth Gehry-designed complex to a verdant outdoor amphitheater known as the Bowl. Sheryl Sandberg, Meta's outgoing chief operating officer, greeted the crowd in the midday heat. Next up was Nick Clegg, the company's president for global affairs. Clegg was almost startling in his effusive praise of the board. He was taking questions from the members when, suddenly, the large screens in the Bowl lit up with a familiar face.