Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) acknowledged that its systems to identify and remove hate speech failed to work effectively particularly on gender-based hate issues.
Facebook Inc (FB) Response Reports
The social networking giant promised to improve its response to reports of violations after women launched a campaign urging Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) to implement concrete and effective action to end gender-based hate speech on its website.
According to Women, Action & Media (WAM), many people participated in the campaign and its coalition spread to include more than 100 women’s movement and justice organizations. Participants sent 60,000 tweets and 5,000 e-mails in support of the initiative. There were also reports that advertisers pulled out their brands from the social network giant.
Facebook Inc (FB) Ensures Commitment
Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) expressed commitment to address these concerns by evaluating and updating its content policy, guidelines, and practices relating to hate speech.
In a blog post, the Safety Team of Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) wrote, “In recent days, it has become clear that our systems to identify and remove hate speech have failed to work as effectively as we would like, particularly around issues of gender-based hate. In some cases, content is not being removed as quickly as we want. In other cases, content that should be removed has not been or has been evaluated using outdated criteria. We have been working over the past several months to improve our systems to respond to reports of violations, but the guidelines used by these systems have failed to capture all the content that violates our standards. We need to do better – and we will.”
The social network giant said it will update training for its teams responsible for reviewing and evaluating reports of hateful or harmful content on its site, and increase the accountability of the content creators.
Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) will also solicit feedback from legal experts, women’s coalitions and other groups that have historical experience on discrimination, and it will establish direct communication lines with representatives of groups working on the issue such as the Anti-Defamation League’s Anti-Cyberhate working group.
The social network giant described the issues about hate speech as a complicated challenge, and its experience is a reminder that it cannot resolve it alone. Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) said it is “strongest when we are engaging with the Facebook community over how best to advance our mission. As we’ve grown to become a global service with more than one billion people, we’re constantly re-evaluating our processes and policies. We’ll also continue to expand our outreach to responsible groups and experts who can help and support us in our efforts to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected.”
