hatespeech
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Google is using games to teach kids about online safety
With the rise of phishing, malware and fake news, it can be hard for adults, let alone children, to identify what's safe and what's not. Parents can teach internet best practices, but companies like Google want to share the load. With its new project, Be Internet Awesome, the search giant has created a new program that helps young people make "smart decisions online." It includes a clever online learning game for kids, a 48-page curriculum for teachers and schools, and a video series for parents to watch alongside their children.
EU: Social networks are getting better at reviewing hate speech
Calls for Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Microsoft to get better at removing hate speech on their networks have partly been acted upon, the European Commission confirmed today. Officials noted that in the last six months, Facebook did a better job than its rivals at reviewing the most complaints within the 24-hour window agreed with the Commission a year ago.
Facebook: German bill isn't 'suitable' to fight hate speech
Germany says sites like Facebook and Twitter aren't doing enough to combat hate speech and fake news on their platforms. The country's Ministry of Justice proposed a bill that, if approved, would fine social networks and other websites up to 50 million euros ($53 million) if they don't remove the content quickly. Well, Facebook says the Network Enforcement Act (Netzwerkdurchsetzungsgesetz or NetzDG in German) in its current form is "not suitable to combat hate speech and false news."
The Facebook president and Zuck's racist rulebook
If a political campaign is an engine then propaganda is its oil, and its gas is the medium of communication with voters. The hacking of the DNC and tonnes of raw crude in propaganda mined out through WikiLeaks, Breitbart and Daily Stormer was black gold for the Trump campaign.
EU approves plans forcing Facebook and YouTube to act on hate speech
The European Union has just approved a proposal to implement Europe's very first mandatory social media restrictions. In a bid to clamp down on hate speech across Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, the EU is proposing a law that allows them to block videos which incite hatred or promote terrorism. While these initial proposals were approved yesterday, the new regulations still need to get past the European Parliament before they become official legislation.
Austria orders Facebook to delete hate postings
Facebook is having a hard time lately amid claims of fake news, political bias and sexism. The European Union considered legislation to encourage a more unified response to such postings and Germany supports fines for social networks that ignore hate speech. Similarly, today an Austrian appeals court ruled that Facebook must delete hate postings written about the leader of the country's Green party -- and not just in Austria.
Europe may harmonize how internet companies fight hate speech
Internet companies are already taking action against hate speech, but it's no secret that they don't always tackle it in the same way. One may delete the hostile material immediately, while the other might spend days reviewing it before taking action. That wildly inconsistent approach might not fly in European Union countries before long. Reuters says it has obtained a draft European Commission document proposing that the EU implement measures that harmonize how online firms remove hate speech, child porn and other illegal content. Just how they'd take material down isn't clear, but Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Twitter have already agreed to an EU code of conduct that requires takedowns within 24 hours -- this would dictate how they pull the offensive content.
Germany backs fines for social networks that ignore hate speech
Germany is backing its crusade against online hate speech with some legal clout. The country's cabinet is backing a proposed law that would fine social networks up to €50 million (about $53.3 million) if they don't block or remove illegal hate speech within 24 hours of receiving a complaint about "obviously criminal content." The legislation wouldn't necessarily fine companies for individual infractions, but this theoretically discourages companies from taking a lackadaisical approach to pulling hateful material.
Google vows to pull ads from extreme videos and sites
Google has detailed new safeguards to ensure brands don't have their adverts served against extremist content. The measures follow a wave of complaints and advertising withdrawals by the UK government, Audi and L'Oreal, among others, triggered by a Times investigation which revealed a number of adverts being shown alongside harmful and inappropriate videos on YouTube. In a blog post, Google said it would be taking "a tougher stance" and "removing ads more effectively" from content that is attacking people based on their race, religion or gender. It also promised to hire "significant numbers" of new staff to review "questionable content."
UK government pulls YouTube ads over hate speech concerns (update)
The UK government has pulled adverts from YouTube after a report from The Times found they were running alongside extremist content. Ads for campaigns such as promoting blood donation and Army recruitment have been restricted after the apparent failings of Google's ad platform, which is supposed to work within guidelines set by the advertising party. Other UK brands, including Channel 4 and The Guardian, have also pressed the pause button on advertising with Google after learning their names were appearing alongside content from the likes of hate preachers and rape apologists.
Germany: Facebook and Twitter are still failing on hate speech
Facebook and Twitter are being criticized by Germany (again) for their failure to deal with hate speech. Back in December 2015, the social media sites, along with Google, agreed to delete content that violated the country's strict domestic laws within 24 hours of a complaint. But, a recent study by Germany's Ministry of Justice found some of them aren't keeping their promises.
EU to tech industry: Remove hate speech faster or we'll make you
Despite agreeing to crack down on the spread of hate speech across their networks earlier this year, four of the world's biggest technology companies aren't delivering on their promises, Reuters reports. A review conducted by EU Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova found that Facebook, Twitter, Google and Microsoft failed to flag and remove offensive content within 24 hours, with less than half of cases being responded to in that timeframe. If they don't improve their response times, new legislation could be introduced to force them to do so.
Facebook runs afoul of German hate speech laws
Facebook has been getting into trouble for its discriminatory content a lot lately, and it recently yielded to pressure about some of its practices in the US. But the social networking giant could face tougher restrictions in Germany around the content posted by its members. According to The New York Times, Facebook came under fire there for its failure to, in a timely manner, remove a post that targeted Jewish people and businesses.
Major advertising firm bans Breitbart for hate speech
The AppNexus advertising network drew a line in the sand today: Breitbart News has been indefinitely barred from using its ad-serving tools for violating hate speech standards. "This blacklist was solely about hate speech violation," AppNexus' Joshua Zeitz told Bloomberg. "We did a human audit of Breitbart and determined there were enough articles and headlines that cross that line." At a glance, the move seems similar to Facebook's pledge to gut advertising for "misleading, illegal and deceptive" fake news websites, but AppNexus says it isn't trying to police content -- it's just upholding its existing content standards.
Twitter suspends Tila Tequila following pro-Nazi posts
Twitter's quest to clamp down on hatemongers, trolls and similar provocateurs isn't slowing down any time soon. The social network has suspended Tila Tequila's account after the reality show star (shown at left) posted a string of pro-Nazi tweets, including one showing her giving a Nazi salute at a white nationalist conference in Washington. While she has previously sworn that she isn't racist (she's of Vietnamese heritage), she hasn't exactly hidden her shift toward the extreme right. She once posted a photo of herself wearing a Nazi armband in front of Auschwitz, and in her Twitter bio described herself as an "alt-reich queen" and "literally Hitler."
Facebook employees argued to ban Trump's posts over hate speech
Some Facebook employees fought to remove posts from Donald Trump in which the Republican presidential candidate called for a ban on Muslims entering the United States, arguing that the comments violated the website's rules on hate speech, The Wall Street Journal reports. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg eventually ruled on the issue and directed employees to not delete any of Trump's posts. Zuckerberg said it would be inappropriate to censor a presidential candidate, according to the WSJ.
Law enforcement may target hate crime by analyzing Twitter
Cardiff University is currently working on a project to let law enforcement scan social media to identify outbreaks of hate crime. According to the Financial Times (subscription required), this $800,000 project is being funded by the US Department of Justice; its main component is an algorithm that scans Twitter to identify hate speech in defined geographic regions of the US. From there, the hope is that the algorithm can look for patterns between hate speech online and violent actions offline.
Microsoft makes it easy to report hate speech
If you come across any racial and gay slur and just about anything that sounds like hate speech on Xbox Live, you can directly report the incident to Microsoft. The tech titan has launched a dedicated website where you can report hate speech not just on Live, but also on Docs.com, OneDrive, Outlook, Skype and Sway. This new website is similar to the portal the company built to report terrorist posts, except this one focuses on content "that advocates violence or promotes hatred" based on age, disability, gender, national or ethnic origin, race, religion, and sexual orientation or gender identity.
Yahoo researchers built a powerful new online abuse detector
A team of researchers at Yahoo Labs have plumbed the depths of their company's massive comment sections to come up with something that might actually be useful for detecting and eventually curbing rampant online abuse. Using a first-of-its-kind data set built from offensive article comments flagged by Yahoo editors, the research team was able to develop an algorithm that, according Technology Review, is the best automated abuse filter built to date.
Europe enlists tech companies to help end online hate speech
Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Microsoft have signed up to stop the spread of hate speech online. The group have committed to a European Commission (EC) code of conduct that ensures their respective platforms "do not offer opportunities for illegal online hate speech to spread virally."
