Facebook deletes 66,000 hate posts; gets tough on offensive content

• Posted on June 28, 2017June 28, 2017
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

Facebook has recently been flooded with disturbing videos and other hate filled content, but the firm has revealed it is making great strides to combat these offensive ideas.

The social media giant has staffed 4,500 human workers with the task of reviewing posts on the site, which has resulted in the removal of about 66,000 posts a week. Although Facebook is working on other methods, it understands that they are ‘a long way from being able to rely on machine learning and AI to handle the process’. ‘As more and more communication takes place in digital form, the full range of public conversations are moving online — in groups and broadcasts, in text and video, even with emoji,’ Richard Allan, VP EMEA public policy, shared in a blog post on Tuesday.

‘These discussions reflect the diversity of human experience: some are enlightening and informative, others are humorous and entertaining, and others still are political or religious. ‘Some can also be hateful and ugly. ‘Most responsible communications platforms and systems are now working hard to restrict this kind of hateful content.’ ‘Facebook is no exception.’ The firm has defined hate speech as attacks on people based on their race, sexual orientation and other ‘protected characteristics.’ And it mostly relies on its nearly two billion users to report any hateful posts they see.

-Mailonline