Facebook Apologises For Mistakes In Removing Hate Speech , II Facebook apologises for leaving hate speech to stay up. , II Investigation Finds Facebook Enforces Hate Speech Unevenly, Facebook Then Apologizes

Facebook has apologised after an investigation exposed inconsistencies by moderators in removing offensive posts reported by the social network's users. The investigation reported by ProPublica this week showed that in one case Facebook censors, called content reviewers, approved a picture of a corpse with the statement "the only good muslim is a f...... dead one" was while another post stating "death to the Muslims!!!" was removed.

In an analysis of 900 posts, the US-based non-profit investigative newsroom found that content reviewers at Facebook often make different calls on items with similar content, and do not always abide by the company's guidelines. The posts were submitted to ProPublica as part of a crowd-sourced investigation into how facebook implements its hate-speech rules. ProPublica asked Facebook to explain its decisions on a sample of 49 items.

People who submitted these items maintained that Facebook censors had erred, mostly by failing to remove hate speech, and in some cases by deleting legitimate expression. Facebook admitted that its reviewers had made a mistake in 22 cases, but the social network defended its rulings in 19 instances. In six cases, Facebook said that the users had not flagged the conten correctly, or the author had deleted it. In the remaining two cases, Facebook said it did not have enough information to respond.

"We're sorry for the mistakes we have made... They do not reflect the community we want to help build," Facebook Vice President Justin Osofsky was quoted as saying by ProPublica. "We must do better," he added. Facebook, according to Osofsky, will double the size of its safety and security team, which includes content reviewers and other employees, to 20,000 people in 2018, in an effort to enforce its rules better, the report said on Thursday.

Facebook has apologised after an investigation revealed moderators make the wrong call on almost half of posts deemed offensive.

The site admitted it left up offensive posts that violate community guidelines despite being armed with 7,500 content reviewers.

One such post was a picture of a corpse with the words ‘the only good Muslim is a f****** dead one’ which was left up by moderators despite being flagged to them.

Another showed a woman passed out on a bed, with the caption ‘what would you do?’. 

According to the investigation, content reviewers do not always abide by the company’s guidelines and interpret similar content in different ways. 

Users reported both posts but received an automated message from Facebook saying it was acceptable.

‘We looked over the photo, and though it doesn’t go against one of our specific Community Standards, we understand that it may still be offensive to you and others’, the message read.

In the case of the woman passed out, Facebook defended its choice to leave it on the site as the caption by a feminist and activist, condemned sexual violence.

The caption read ‘women don’t make memes or comments like this #NameTheProblem’. 

However, another anti-Muslim comment – ‘Death to the Muslims’ – was deemed offensive after users repeatedly reported it.

All comments on the reported posts were violations of Facebook’s policies but only one was caught, according to the full investigation by independent, nonprofit newsroom ProPublica.  

The non-profit sent Facebook a sample of 49 items containing hate speech, and a few with legitimate expression from its pool of 900 crowdsourced posts.

The social network admitted its reviewers made mistakes in 22 of the cases. 

Facebook blamed users for not flagging the posts correctly in six cases.

In two incidents it said it didn’t have enough infomation to respond. 

Overall, the company defended 19 of its decisions, which included sexist, racist, and anti-Muslim rhetoric.

For instance, one post showed a picture of a black man with a missing tooth and Kentucky Fried Chicken bucket on his head was left up. 

The caption read: ‘Yeah, we needs to be spending dat money on food stamps wheres we can gets mo water melen an fried chicken’. 

Facebook defended the decision, saying it did not attack a specific protected group. 

‘We’re sorry for the mistakes we have made,’ said Facebook VP Justin Osofsky in a statement. ‘We must do better.’ 

Facebook says it protects posts against key groups. 

The company has claimed it will double the number of content reviewers in order to enforce rules better.

Mr Osofsky said the company deletes around 66,000 posts containing hate speech every week.

‘Our policies allow content that may be controversial and at times even distasteful, but it does not cross the line into hate speech,’ he said.

‘This may include criticism of public figures, religions, professions, and political ideologies.’ 

However, it seems some groups of people are more protected than others.

More than a dozen people lodged complaints about a page called Jewish Ritual Murder but it was only removed when it received a request from ProPublica. 

One post showed a picture of a black man with a missing tooth and Kentucky Fried Chicken bucket on his head.

‘Yeah, we needs to be spending dat money on food stamps wheres we can gets mo water melen an fried chicken’, the caption read.

Facebook defended the decision to leave it on the site, saying it did not attack a specific protected group.

However, a comment staying ‘white people are the f—— most’, referring to racism in the US, was removed immediately.

Musician Janis Ian had a post removed and was banned from using Facebook for days after violated community standards.  

She posted an image of a man with a Swastika tattoo on his head where she encouraged people to speak out against Nazi rallies.

An image of a woman in a trolley with her legs open alongside the caption ‘Went to Wal-Mart… Picked up a brand new dishwasher’ was deemed not to violate community standards. 

When questioned by investigators, the company defended their decision to leave it on the site.

Another image of a bloodied woman in a trolley with the caption; ‘Returned my defective sandwich-maker to Wal-Mart’, was taken down. 

Another image of a woman sleeping had the caption ‘If you can home, walked into your room, and saw this in your bed… what would you do?’.

Annie Ramsey, a feminist and activist, tweeted the image with the caption; ‘Women don’t make memes or comments like this #NameTheProblem’.

Facebook defended its choice to leave it on the site as the caption condemned sexual violence, the spokesperson said.

There is currently no appeal process.

speech, ‪‪Facebook‬, Facebook,International News,Facebook, Social Media, Hate Speech, Offensive

Facebook Apologises For Mistakes In Removing Hate Speech , II Facebook apologises for leaving hate speech to stay up. , II Investigation Finds Facebook Enforces Hate Speech Unevenly, Facebook Then Apologizes