hatespeech
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Facebook finally bans Holocaust denial content
The company updated its hate speech policy to prohibit such material.
Facebook is using bots to figure out how to stop harassment
Facebook says its researchers are developing new technology they hope will aid in ongoing efforts to make its platform’s AI have the ability to snuff out harassment. In the Web-Enabled Simulation (WES), an army of bots programmed to mimic bad human behavior are let loose in a test environment, and Facebook engineers then figure out the best countermeasures. WES has three key aspects, Facebook researcher Mark Harman said in a statement.
Cloudflare cuts off extremist site 8chan after multiple shootings
Cloudflare has announced that it will no longer provide security services to the far-right site 8chan following the deadly, mass shooting by a white nationalist in El Paso, Texas. That will open 8chan up to distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, starting at midnight PDT, that could permanently disable the site unless it's able to find another security service.
Twitter will label tweets from politicians that violate rules
Twitter is adding a label to tweets that break its rules but are still considered to be in the public interest, namely from elected officials or those running for office. The company mentioned in March it was considering such a policy, and now it's enacting the measure effective immediately.
Facebook will share data on hate speech suspects with French courts (update)
Facebook is handing over identifying information to French courts on people suspected of using hate speech on its social network. "This is huge news, it means that the judicial process will be able to run normally," Cédric O, France's minister for the digital sector, told Reuters. "It's really very important, they're only doing it for France." Update 6/25/19 9PM ET: A Facebook spokesperson told us: "As a matter of course, we will no longer refer French law enforcement authorities to the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty process to request basic information in criminal hate speech cases. However, as we do with all court orders for information, even in the US, we will scrutinize every order we receive and push back if is overbroad, inconsistent with human rights, or legally defective."
YouTube will remove some hate speech and conspiracy videos
YouTube has updated its hate speech policy to ban more types of videos from its platform. They explicitly include those promoting or glorifying Nazi ideology or deny that certain events including the Holocaust or the Sandy Hook shooting took place. As a result, YouTube will remove thousands of channels and videos under the refreshed rules.
Facebook and Instagram are banning white nationalism and separatism
Facebook is banning white nationalism and separatism material from its platform and Instagram as of next week, following a prior ban on white supremacy. It will prohibit praise, support and representation of the ideologies, including specific phrases such as "I am a proud white nationalist" and "Immigration is tearing this country apart; white separatism is the only answer," as Motherboard first reported.
Facebook pulled over 1.5 million videos of New Zealand shooting
Internet giants have been racing to pull copies of the New Zealand mass shooter's video from their sites, and Facebook is illustrating just how difficult that task has been. Facebook New Zealand's Mia Garlick has revealed that the social network removed 1.5 million attack videos worldwide in the first 24 hours, 1.2 million of which were stopped at the upload stage. This includes versions edited to remove the graphic footage of the shootings, Garlick said, as the company wants to both respect people affected by the murders and the "concerns of local authorities."
Study says 37 percent of Americans have faced 'severe' online harassment
It might be premature to claim the internet is becoming more civil. A YouGov study commissioned by the Anti-Defamation League indicates that 37 percent of Americans dealt with "severe" online harassment and hate speech in 2018, or more than twice as much as they reported in 2017. Moreover, women and minorities reported at least some kind of harassment based on their identity. About 63 percent of LBGTQ+ respondents said they'd been targeted, while Muslims (35 percent), Hispanics (30 percent), African-Americans (27 percent), women (24 percent), Asian-Americans (20 percent) and Jews (16 percent) also encountered hate speech.
Facebook bans 22 more pages linked to Alex Jones
Facebook on Tuesday began enforcing the new rules of its recently updated recidivism policy, which is why 22 pages linked to right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and his website InfoWars are no longer there.
InfoWars has a platform again, thanks to a new Roku channel (updated)
Last year, amid heated criticism over the conspiracy theories it spread about events like the Parkland, Florida and Sandy Hook school shootings, InfoWars -- along with owner Alex Jones -- started to its see reach diminished as one by one, platforms began to remove its content from their services. But now, months after many outlets banned InfoWars and Jones, Roku has given them their own channel. Digiday reported the move today, one that has already sparked backlash across social media.
Facebook's leaked moderation 'rulebook' is as confused as you'd think
Nearly a year ago, ProPublica tested Facebook's moderation with multiple items of hate speech and the company apologized after it failed to treat many of them properly based on its policies. In May, documents leaked to Motherboard showing its quickly shifting content policies -- and now another New York Times report cites leaked moderation guidelines showing how it is, and in many cases is not, handling hate and propaganda messages. Issues include failures to keep up to date information on shifting political situations in countries like Sri Lanka and Bosnia, while a paperwork error allowed an extremist group in Myanmar to keep using Facebook for months longer than it should have. There's evidence Facebook is misinterpreting laws restricting speech in countries like India, and the focus seems heavily weighted toward protecting Facebook's reputation more than anything else.
Study: Women are abused every 30 seconds on Twitter
Earlier this year Amnesty International released a report discussing what many of Twitter's female users already know: the social network is not always a great place to be if you're a woman. Now, a new study reveals the hard statistics on just how toxic the situation is. According to the report by Amnesty International and global AI software company Element AI, female journalists and politicians were abused every 30 seconds on Twitter in 2017.
Twitter’s Jack Dorsey: ‘I don’t know enough’ about Myanmar
Twitter chief Jack Dorsey came under fire earlier this week when he posted a series of tone deaf tweets celebrating his recent birthday retreat in Myanmar, a country ravaged by political violence and whose government is accused of widespread genocide and ethnic cleansing. Now, he's responded to criticism of his tweets -- where he encouraged people to visit Myanmar to experience the people who were "full of joy" -- claiming that he didn't mean to undermine the "human rights atrocities and suffering" in the country.
YouTube bans the founder of far-right group the Proud Boys
The Proud Boys have lost another online platform, though this time it's not for the far-right group's hate speech and support for violence. YouTube has terminated Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes' account following "multiple third-party claims" of copyright violations. The company didn't name the specific violations in a statement to CNET, but it did say that it pulls the accounts of "repeat offenders."
PayPal bans far-right Proud Boys and multiple anti-fascist groups
The far-right group Proud Boys has been hit with bans from Twitter and Facebook and now it will no longer be allowed to operate on PayPal. The Verge reports that PayPal will be cancelling both the Proud Boys account as well as that of its founder Gavin McInnes. At the same time, it's also continuing to take down accounts belonging to a number of anti-fascist groups, including Atlanta Antifa, Antifa Sacramento and the Anti-Fascist Network.
Facebook bans far-right group the Proud Boys
Facebook is banning accounts and groups associated with the Proud Boys, a far-right extremist group linked to political violence in the US. Facebook has confirmed the move to TechCrunch, indicating that the group now meets the company's definition of a hate organization or figure. The decision follows an incident that took place in New York earlier in October, where Proud Boys members were involved in a violent attack on protesters, and five members were arrested.
Gab loses hosting provider following Pittsburgh mass shooting
Gab continues to lose support from internet services following the anti-Semitic mass shooting in Pittsburgh. Hosting provider Joyent is suspending service for Gab as of the morning of October 29th, likely leaving the social network "down for weeks," according to a tweet. Joyent only said there had been a "notice of a breach of our Terms of Service," but it was likely a response to Gab's inaction against the shooter's numerous racist conspiracy posts ahead of the attack, including one that same morning.
Twitter explains dehumanizing speech so you maggots will understand
Twitter is still taking your responses and suggestions on its incoming policy against "content that dehumanizes others based on their membership in an identifiable group, even when the material does not include a direct target." Apparently, a lot of the feedback received over the last few days has complained that the policies aren't clear enough, so the company updated its blog post with more details and a couple of examples.
Twitter's new content policy takes aim at 'dehumanizing speech'
Though Twitter has a policy against hateful conduct, which prohibits threats of violence against others based on factors like their race, ethnicity or sexual orientation, the platform has come under frequent criticism for what it still allows on its site. But the company is now considering a new policy and before it's implemented, Twitter is asking users what they think. The new policy addresses dehumanization and it says users can't "dehumanize anyone based on membership in an identifiable group, as this speech can lead to offline harm," and Twitter is asking you to weigh in on the proposed rule.
