We need to do better – Facebook

HumanIPO reported yesterday an online petition had reached more than 220,000 signatures and campaign group Women, Action and the Media had written an open letter to the social network.

Facebook’s initial public response to the campaign seeked to play down the issue, saying while they recognised much of the referenced content was offensive it often did not contravene their policies, much to the anger and frustration of campaigners.

But in a statement released late last night, Facebook said: “In recent days, it has become clear that our systems to identify and remove hate speech have failed to work as effectively as we would like, particularly around issues of gender-based hate. In some cases, content is not being removed as quickly as we want.

“In other cases, content that should be removed has not been or has been evaluated using outdated criteria. We have been working over the past several months to improve our systems to respond to reports of violations, but the guidelines used by these systems have failed to capture all the content that violates our standards. We need to do better – and we will.”

The statement went on to say it would be taking new steps immediately. They include completing a review and updating guidelines that moderators use and update the training that moderators receive.

Facebook is also working on a feature which will require creators and posters of offensive content to include their “authentic identity” alongside it to ensure they can be held to account.

It added: “If an individual decides to publicly share cruel and insensitive content, users can hold the author accountable and directly object to the content. We will continue to develop this policy based on the results so far, which indicate that it is helping create a better environment for Facebook users.”

Facebook also said they will continue to work with the women’s coalition and legal experts in the formulation of the new policies.