(Reuters) – Facebook Inc (FB.O) said on Tuesday that it deleted 7 million posts in the second quarter for sharing false information about the new coronavirus, including content that promotes false preventive measures and excessive cures.
FILE PHOTO: A 3D-printed Facebook logo is seen placed on a keyboard in this illustration March 25, 2020. REUTERS / Dado Ruvic / Illustration
It published the data as part of its sixth Community Standards Enforcement Report, which it introduced in 2018 along with stricter decorum rules in response to a backlog about its lax approach to policing content on its platforms.
The world’s largest social network said it would invite proposals this week from experts to verify the metrics used in the report, beginning in 2021. It called for scrutiny during a July boycott of advertising about hate speech practices.
The company delivered about 22.5 million hate speech messages on its flagship app in the second quarter, a dramatic increase of 9.6 million in the first quarter. It attributed the leap to improvements in detection technology.
It also deleted 8.7 million messages linked to ‘terrorist’ organizations, compared to 6.3 million in the previous period. It took less material from “organized hate” groups: 4 million pieces of content, compared to 4.7 million in the first quarter.
The company is not disclosing any changes in the prevalence of hate content on its platforms, which civil rights groups say makes reports of its removal less meaningful.
Facebook said it relied more heavily on automation for checking content starting in April because it had fewer reviewers in its offices due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
That resulted in less action against content related to child self-harm and sexual exploitation, executives said at a conference call.
“It’s graphic content that honestly at home is very difficult for people to moderate, with people around them,” said Guy Rosen, Facebook’s vice president for integrity.
Facebook said it expanded its hate speech policy to “include content that portrays blackface, as stereotypes about Jewish people who control the world.”
Report by Katie Paul in San Francisco and Munsif Vengattil in Bengaluru; Additional Reporting by Bart Meijer; Edited by Shinjini Ganguli, Anil D’Silva and Paul Simao
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