Facebook has picked the first members of its new oversight board which will guide company policy on issues to do with free speech. The line-up so far is impressive (but you would expect that from Facebook). The question is whether this group will be able to wield enough power to change company policy.

Among the four co-chairs of the group is Helle Thorning-Schmidt, the former prime minister of Denmark. She is joined by two US law professors, Jamal Greene and Michael McConnell, and Catalina Botero Marino, a former special rapporteur for freedom of expression at the Organization of American States. Nobel peace laureate Tawakkol Karman and Alan Rusbridger, the former Guardian editor-in-chief, are among the 16 ordinary board members so far selected and the total board will expand to 40 names over time.

“Our roster includes three former judges, six former or current journalists, and other leaders with backgrounds from civil society, academia and public service,” said Thomas Hughes, the director of the oversight board. “They represent a diverse collection of backgrounds and beliefs, but all have a deep commitment to advancing human rights and freedom of expression.”

So what is the board? Well its main aim is to set Facebook policy and act as the final arbiter in disputes about what should and should not be allowed on the platform. This has been an area which has been decidedly lacking until now but has become more and more important.

Take, for example, Facebook’s policy on political speech and adverts. I’ve written a lot about this in the past. I have criticised the company for failing to have a vision as to how it believes politicians (and issue campaigners) should be able to act, a rationale for why they should be treated differently from others and a robust fact-checking system which can guide users to understand why what they are being told might not be true. As a result, Facebook has become out of line with other platforms and often appears to be making up policy on the hoof.

Facebook currently operates a single world-wide policy on political speech. They allow politicians to say what they want. And they allow political adverts to pretty much do the same. In contrast, ordinary advertisers cannot say things that are untrue and even organic posts can be subject to fact-checking. Given the predominance that the platform holds in the marketplace in many countries, this can allow politicians free rein to lie to the electorate with little chance that alternative points of view – or the truth – will get an airing.

Facebook has also failed to take account of the different election laws that apply in countries around the world. Many of these are out-dated, but the platform hasn’t really grasped the chance to work with legislatures to update laws and make sure that Facebook policies in the territory are in compliance.

So will the new board deal with these issues? We will have to wait and see.