hate speech
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Social media companies are better managing hate speech, EU says
An average of 90 percent of flagged content is now assessed within 24 hours, compared to just 40 percent in 2016.
The North Face pulls Facebook ads over hate and misinformation policies
Major advertisers like The North Face are pulling ads from Facebook, if temporarily, to oppose the social network's approaches to hate and misinformation.
Facebook suspended hundreds of anti-racist skinheads and musicians
Facebook has suspended hundreds of anti-racist skinheads and musicians in what appears to have been a mistaken crackdown.
Reddit appoints Michael Seibel to Ohanian's vacated board seat
Michael Seibel is well-known in the tech world for promoting diversity and inclusion.
Facebook pulls nearly 200 accounts connected to hate groups
Facebook has removed nearly 200 accounts linked to hate groups, and sped up its response when it was clear they planned to stoke violence at protests.
'Call of Duty' developer will further crack down on racist players
Infinity Ward is clamping down further on racism in 'Call of Duty,' including more monitoring and better filtering.
Facebook deploys AI in its fight against hate speech and misinformation
The company has long sought to rein in the prevalence of hate speech spread on its site. Detecting hate speech is no easy feat. The company is even tackling hate memes.
Recommended Reading: Facebook's new content oversight board
Pitchfork explores what’s next.
Twitter will delete hate speech related to age, disability and disease
Last year, Twitter updated its harmful conduct policy to require the deletion of hate speech based on religion. Today, the company is updating its rules to include language the company says "dehumanizes" other people based on age, disability or disease. As before, the company won't ban or suspend people who wrote offending tweets before today's update. However, it will delete any past tweets if users report them.
YouTube's tougher harassment policy cracks down on hate speech and threats
YouTube is enacting a stricter anti-harassment policy to curb hate speech and threats that might have otherwise skirted past its moderators. The online video giant no longer allows material that "maliciously insults" people based on traits like gender identity, race or sexual orientation. It'll also bar "veiled or implied" threats, not just direct ones. You could face penalties if you simulate violence toward someone or suggest that violence might take place, YouTube said. Also, channels that routinely "brush up" against the policy will be kicked out of the YouTube Partner Program. A creator that's purposefully testing the limits of YouTube's resolve could find itself unable to make money, and might find itself banned outright if its behavior continues beyond that point.
Facebook bans two prominent white nationalist groups after Guardian report
Facebook has banned Red Ice TV and Affirmative Right, two prominent white nationalist groups, from its social media platform. As reported by The Guardian, the bans come after the publication highlighted Facebook's resistance to take action against them, despite the fact that it said eight months ago it would no longer toleration white nationalist content.
Europe's top court rules that Facebook can be ordered to remove illegal content
Courts in the European Union can now order Facebook to remove user comments deemed illegal, according to a new ruling by the EU's highest court, which has implications for the way countries can manage content bans beyond their borders.
Anti-extremism group run by social media giants becomes independent
A group formed by Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter and YouTube to combat terrorist abuse and online extremism on social media is becoming a separate organization. The Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism has announced today that it plans on hiring an executive director and separate staff to lead the initiative, which was formed a little more than two years ago. Also joining the initiative will be Amazon, Whatsapp and Linkedin.
Facebook suspended Israeli PM's campaign chatbot for hate speech
Facebook has suspended a chatbot linked to the official account of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after it posted a message that said Israel's Arab politicians "want to destroy us all." It appears that the chatbot -- operated under the name of a campaign volunteer -- was trying to generate support for Mr Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party ahead of next Tuesday's election.
YouTube's channel removals soar following hate speech crackdown
YouTube's tougher stance on hate speech has led it to culling much, much more conent than it has in the past. The Google-owned video service has revealed that it removed over 17,000 channels and 100,000 videos for hate speech, both fivefold increases over its previous activity. It "nearly doubled" the volume of comment removals, too, to more than 500 million. The jumps were partly due to the removal of material that had previously been allowed, but they still suggest that YouTube's enforcement is proving more effective.
An independent report on Facebook’s alleged liberal bias tells us nothing
Conservatives have long lamented that Facebook has a liberal, or anti-conservative, bias. Since the 2016 election, the company has been grilled on the issue by the White House more than once. In an attempt to clear the air, Facebook enlisted an independent third-party to decide once and for all if it does indeed have an anti-conservative bias. Last year, it asked former Republican Senator Jon Kyl and his team at Covington & Burling LLP to conduct a review of the company's policies. The results are in, and for the most part, they tell us nothing.
Beto O'Rourke wants to hold internet companies liable for hate speech
If some politicians have their way, internet companies might be held responsible for hate that exists on their platform. Presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke has proposed amending the Communication Decency Act's Section 230, which protects internet companies from being held liable for their users' actions, to "remove legal immunity" for sites and providers that "knowingly promote" material that spurs violence. The operators of a community like 8chan, for example, might have been held responsible for routinely allowing the extremism that led to shootings in places like Christchurch and O'Rourke's hometown of El Paso.
Twitter didn't flag Trump's racist tweets
Twitter said that it would label tweets from political figures that violate its rules, but it's not clear if the social network is applying that policy yet. CNET noted that Twitter hasn't labeled a series of President Trump tweets that are widely considered to be racist. The politician suggested that "Progressive Democrat Congresswomen" critical of his policies, like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib, should go back to their "corrupt and inept" home countries. The not-so-subtle assertion, as you might gather, was that these non-white politicians weren't 'real' Americans.
Twitter revises rules on hate speech targeting religions
Twitter has technically banned hate speech based on religion before, but it should now be easier for the company to clamp down on that behavior. The social site has updated its rules to require the deletion of any tweet that "dehumanizes" others based on their religion, whether or not it targets someone directly. The company won't ban or suspend people who wrote offending tweets before the policy's July 9th effective date, but they will have to delete the posts in question to avoid further trouble.
Facebook will fight misinformation linked to the 2020 US census
Facebook isn't just limiting its anti-interference efforts to elections. The social network has published a second updated on its civil rights audit, and with it news that the company plans to treat the 2020 US census as if it were a vote. It will have a team dedicated to fighting misinformation surrounding the census, a policy to crack down on fake census-related stories and partnerships with non-partisan groups to foster participation. AI will help enforce the policy, Facebook said.
