Facebook promises to strengthen after moderation campaign against "hate speech"

My friends, this was taken from O Público newspaper:

http://www.publico.pt/mundo/noticia/facebook-promete-reforcar-moderacao-apos-campanha-contra-discurso-de-odio-1595873

Facebook promises to strengthen after moderation campaign against "hate speech"

The company founded by Mark Zuckerberg acknowledges that it has failed in filtering content deemed offensive.

The Facebook yielded to the campaign launched by organizations defending the rights of women and said it is working to "improve response" to complaints of messages with content "controversial, harmful and hateful."

"In recent days, it became apparent that our systems of identification and elimination of hate messages have not worked as effectively as we would like, in particular in the case of hatred based on sex," reads the response from the Vice President Facebook Marne Levine to open letter published last week by the Organizations Women, Action & the Media and Everyday Sexism Project.

In just seven days, the campaign for a "fast action, comprehensive and effective representation against rape and domestic violence on Facebook" gathered hundreds of thousands of signatures and even led Nissan to cancel the publication of advertisements in social networks. Other well-known brands such as Dove, have indicated they are pressing Facebook to improve its mechanisms for moderation. A Women, Action & the Media publishes on its website some images shared on Facebook considered shocking.

The management of the company founded by Mark Zuckerberg heard the demands of the organizations and the threats of advertisers and pledged to "update" their evaluation criteria. The measures announced include the investment in further training for people who filter their shared contents; opening "lines of communication more formal and direct" with organizations and activists, and the rise of the "degree of responsibility for content creators to are not considered hate, but that may be cruel or insensitive. "

A response was received with satisfaction by the Women, Action & the Media. "Facebook has done more than most other companies to address this issue," reads a statement posted on the organization's website. "We hope that this moment marks a historic transition for the media and women's rights (...) We look forward to working with these communities into action on a large scale or small scale, to live in a safe and just world for women, for young people and for all people, "concludes the organization defending the rights of women, based in Cambridge, UK.

The criteria for moderating content on Facebook were publicly revealed last year by Amine Derkaoui, a young 21 year old Moroccan who received training in a company "outsourcing". The greater tolerance for images portraying violence and explicit prohibition of photos with women to breastfeed a child, for example, were some of the most challenged, beyond the low wages paid to the moderators.

About time, too.


In just seven days, the campaign for a "fast action, comprehensive and effective representation against rape and domestic violence on Facebook" gathered hundreds of thousands of signatures and even led Nissan to cancel the publication of advertisements in social networks. Other well-known brands such as Dove, have indicated they are pressing Facebook to improve its mechanisms for moderation. A Women, Action & the Media publishes on its website some images shared on Facebook considered shocking.


Sadly, FB won't act out of morality, but because it's going to cost them $$$$$$$$ not to.