November 5, 2019

Content Governance request for proposals

About

This Research Award is now closed

An ongoing global conversation is informing how social media and technology companies develop their rules to determine what is and isn’t allowed on their platforms. Facebook’s set of rules is called the Community Standards, and these aim “to create a place for expression and give people voice.”

Facebook is ultimately responsible for enforcing these standards, which we do by making millions of content decisions every week. To support transparency, oversight, and independent judgment, we have also committed to establishing an independent Oversight Board, which you can read about more in this Newsroom post.

Many people — researchers, advocates, experts, and others — have given their input on how this Oversight Board could be developed. This feedback has informed the way we are moving forward and has been instrumental in strengthening the design of this new institution. In addition, we do recognize that the Oversight Board, as an idea, sits within a history of scholarship and advocacy in a wide range of areas, including online speech, law and technology, digital constitutionalism, multi-stakeholderism, content moderation, content governance, journalism, applied ethics, free expression, digital rights, human rights, tech policy, and other related fields of study.

There is a need for expanding a diverse and independent body of research and advocacy work across these disciplines, in support of content governance for digital platforms. Thus, we are requesting proposals for academic research or civil society advocacy in the areas listed above. Proposals do not have to be limited to the Oversight Board. They should, however, support a specific research problem or advocacy issue related to online content governance.

In 2019, Facebook will grant awards between $50K to $100K USD per awardee to fund projects of up to 12 months in duration. We encourage applicants with multidisciplinary backgrounds to participate. This includes individual researchers and advocates addressing a well-defined problem, as well as multiple organizations with a diverse set of skills to solve a more complex multidisciplinary challenge. We encourage emerging scholars to apply.

Awards will be funded by Facebook Research, separate from the Oversight Board and its trust.

Payment will be made to the proposer’s host institution as an unrestricted gift. With this, overhead is typically limited to 5–8 percent.

To apply

We ask applicants to submit a 2–3 page proposal. Proposals should include:

  • A research question and a clear statement of work.
  • A summary of the project (1–2 pages) explaining the area of focus, a description of the project, relevant prior work, and a timeline with milestones and expected outcomes (remember, the timeline should be no more than 12 months).
  • A draft budget description (<1 page) including an approximate cost of the award and explanation of how funds would be spent. Proposals from small collaborative teams are encouraged.
  • Name(s) of the project personnel involved in the proposed work, along with their CV/résumé.
  • Indication of any previous or current connections/collaborations with Facebook (in which case, please provide context and name the Facebook contacts). Successful awardees will be listed on the Facebook Research website and, in the spirit of the award, are encouraged to openly publish any findings/insights from their work.

Payment

  • Funding will be $50k to $100K per proposal, depending on the specific requirements.
  • Payment will be made to the proposer’s host university or organization as an unrestricted gift.

Eligibility

  • Organizations must be a nonprofit or nongovernmental organization with recognized legal status in their respective country (equal to 501(c)(3) status under the United States Internal Revenue Code).
  • Applicants must be the Principal Investigator or Project Manager on any resulting award.
  • Applicants may submit one proposal per solicitation.

Timing and dates

  • Applications are now open. Deadline to apply is Friday, December 6, 2019 at 5:00 p.m. PST.
  • Awardees will be notified by the end of the calendar year.
  • When applicable, awardees will be invited to attend workshops to meet with Facebook and other experts. Attendance is not mandatory to qualify for the award, but it is encouraged.

Additional Terms and Conditions

Facebook’s decisions will be final in all matters relating to this solicitation, including interpretation of these Terms and awards at any time. Awards will be subject to additional Terms and Conditions for awardees which will be communicated to recipients after selection. All items apply unless otherwise stated above. Please Read These Terms Carefully Before Proceeding.

 

  • By submitting a proposal, you are authorizing Facebook to evaluate the proposal for a potential award, and you agree to the terms herein.
  • You agree that Facebook will not be required to treat any part of the proposal as confidential or protected by copyright, and may use, edit, modify, copy, reproduce, and distribute all or a portion of your proposal in any manner for the sole purposes of administering the website and evaluating the contents of the proposal.
  • You agree and acknowledge that personal data submitted with the proposal, including name, mailing address, phone number, and email address of you and other named researchers in the proposal may be collected, processed, stored and otherwise used by Facebook for the purposes of administering the website and evaluating the contents of the proposal.
  • You acknowledge that neither party is obligated to enter into any business transaction as a result of the proposal submission, Facebook is under no obligation to review or consider the proposal, and neither party acquires any intellectual property rights as a result of submitting the proposal.
  • Any feedback you provide to Facebook in the proposal regarding its products or services will not be treated as confidential or protected by copyright, and Facebook is free to use such feedback on an unrestricted basis with no compensation to you.
  • Applicants represent and warrant that they have authority to submit a proposal in connection with this RFP and grant the rights set forth herein on behalf of their organization.

 

See this page for full Terms and Conditions.

 
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