For years, Facebook employees have warned the world’s largest social network not to do enough against hate speech and misinformation in view of its rapid growth. This emerges from internal documents, from which several media quoted on Monday.
As a result, the US company, which has more than 2.8 billion users worldwide, knew that it had hired too few employees with language skills and information about local events, for example in emerging countries. This is especially dangerous in countries that are particularly threatened by outbreaks of violence, such as Myanmar and Ethiopia, warned an internal employee.
Group knew of the grievances
Facebook is currently active in more than 190 countries and content is published in more than 160 languages. More than 90 percent of monthly active users live outside the USA and Canada.
The documents also show that the group was aware that the systems for monitoring content were not doing their job and that it was relatively difficult for users to report controversial posts that might violate the rules.
A company spokeswoman said on request that Facebook employed native speakers who checked content in more than 70 languages worldwide, as well as human rights experts. The former head of Facebook’s Middle East politics business, Ashraf Zeitoon, said Facebook had acted colonial and put the monetization of the offer above the safety of the users.
Critic calls for strict regulation
A congress official made blacked-out versions of revelations available to an international consortium of journalists. The former Facebook employee Frances Haugen handed this over to the American Congress and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) three weeks ago. The Reuters news agency also inspected documents and spoke to five former Facebook employees.
Haugen demanded more transparency from the world’s largest Internet network and spoke out in favor of regulating the US technology group, which cost around one trillion dollars on the market.
In Switzerland, according to their own information, the Tamedia research desk and “Das Magazin” were able to study the so-called Facebook files. Evaluations specific to Switzerland are not included, it said. But in a study on teenagers’ fears when dealing with Instagram, a study participant with a post from Basel also appeared. (cat / SDA)