The popular social media network, Facebook, is making changes to reduce the level of hate speech that surfaces on the platform and the company's COO recently explained that its decisions are not the result of the ad boycott. After recent events across the country, many companies and figures are making changes in a bid to correct past behaviors and systems.
Facebook has evolved to offer a bevy of services including, gaming, groups and videos. However, Facebook has recently come under fire for data breaches and its position on political ads. In fact, one disgruntled employee publicly quit the company, while other frustrated employees previously and publicly denounced Facebook for its lackluster stance towards racial issues by staging a digital walkout. Even more recently, the company has faced an advertisement boycott that emerged after many had grown tired of the company's failure to moderate hate speech.
Facebook COO, Sheryl Sandberg, posted to Facebook to explain how the company is making hate speech moderation changes, following the results of a two-year civil rights audit. Sandberg expressed how this decision is not a result of the ad boycott, but the belief that minimizing hate on the platform is the 'right thing to do.' Although this may be true, Sandberg also mentions that Facebook will not make every change based on the recommendations of the audit and civil rights community.
In response to the post, the comments section was a mix of applause and doubt. Some Facebook users appear to believe the decision is actually an effect of the boycott. Essentially, some are arguing that Facebook’s decision is monetary-based, rather than the company actually wanting to do the right thing. Furthermore, some individuals suggested that the social media network’s moderation tends to forget its own community standards and ignores hate speech. A quick look at Facebook’s community standards shows that the platform defines hate speech as content that attacks a person based on a variety of demographics, while categorizing hate speech as violent or dehumanizing speech, statements of inferiority, and calls for segregation or other forms of exclusion.
Those in support of Sandberg’s message noted that they wanted to see actions happen. On that note, Sandberg's post failed to mention a single plan or discuss anything the company intends to do. If anything, it merely name-dropped certain individuals and groups to try and boost credibility, while proudly mentioning how Facebook was the first social media company to have an independent civil rights audit, and how billions of dollars had already been spent to remove hate. Whether or not Facebook is concerned with the advertisement boycott, time will tell if the company is able to make the necessary changes that many now expect.
Source: Facebook
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