1/ Facebook just made two announcements about issues we’ve reported on: hate speech and advertising on the platform.
Let’s talk for a minute about what they’ve said, what we’ve found out over the past few years, and some still-open questions.
Let’s talk for a minute about what they’ve said, what we’ve found out over the past few years, and some still-open questions.
2/ We published a version of Facebook’s highly detailed hate speech and censorship policy. People were surprised that attacks against “white men” were considered a violation, while, say a slur against “the religion of Islam” or “Indian taxi drivers” isn’t. propublica.org/article/facebo…
3/ Today, Facebook released something similar – their “community standards,” or the guidelines they use to decide whether posts stay up or come down. facebook.com/communitystand…
It also announced an appeals process, something users have requested for a long time.
It also announced an appeals process, something users have requested for a long time.
4/ However: we know enforcement of this policy has been spotty. We looked at 1,000 examples last year: propublica.org/article/facebo…
Examples that don’t seem to align with Facebook’s standards continue to come in. Take a look at this ruling from the weekend:
Examples that don’t seem to align with Facebook’s standards continue to come in. Take a look at this ruling from the weekend:
5/ We’ve also been covering Facebook’s advertising portal and the potential for discrimination. These included:
- Housing discrimination propublica.org/article/facebo…
- Employment discrimination propublica.org/article/facebo…
- Ads targeting hate groups propublica.org/article/facebo…
- Housing discrimination propublica.org/article/facebo…
- Employment discrimination propublica.org/article/facebo…
- Ads targeting hate groups propublica.org/article/facebo…
6/ Today, the company published a blog post saying it has removed the potential for excluding certain categories: facebook.com/business/news/…
7/ Clearly, journalism has prompted some important conversations about company policy.
Much of this reporting was engagement fueled – made better because a whole lot of Facebook users participated in it. propublica.org/article/facebo…
Much of this reporting was engagement fueled – made better because a whole lot of Facebook users participated in it. propublica.org/article/facebo…
8/8 And now we hope you'll help us with our next round of Facebook accountability coverage.
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We’re covering political ads. Please get us going by installing our tool here: projects.propublica.org/political-ad-c…
