Facebook’s Relentless Fight Against Fake News

Q1. The theme of World Day of Social Justice 2021 is “A Call for Social Justice in the Digital Economy”, quite apt, considering that in recent times, infringement of fundamental human rights has come to the fore again, especially on social media. Is Facebook aligned with its platforms being continually used to amplify such voices?

Ans: The mission of Facebook is to give people the power to build community and bring the world together. It is also built on the principles of social justice, which include access, equity, participation, diversity and human rights. From inception, Facebook has promoted and strengthened these principles, and this is evident in the way people, communities and organisations use our platforms and products all across the world. Social media has provided access to education, opportunity, voice and information. It is a tool for accountability and transparency; it is used to increase diversity, build communities, strengthen alliances and expand economic and personal resources. The most powerful trait of community is the recognition of our shared humanity, and social media including Facebook, is an excellent demonstration of that interconnectedness.

Q2. In the same vein, we understand that Facebook is very particular about curbing the spread of false information. What progress has been made thus far, and will we ever be out of the woods on this one?

Ans: False news is bad for people and bad for Facebook. We are making significant investments to curb misinformation and promote high-quality journalism and news literacy. Our approach is focused on three main areas: We remove accounts and content that violate our Community Standards which enforce the safety and security of the platform. For example, we’ve cracked down on fake accounts which are often the ones spreading misinformation – we now disable more than a million fake accounts per day at the point of creation. We also take down voter suppression or any misinformation that could cause real-world violence or imminent harm. We also reject any ad that is debunked by our fact-checkers. We reduce the distribution of content that doesn’t directly violate our Community Standards but are nonetheless low quality/bad experiences, so fewer people see it. This includes false news – we partner with 80 fact-checking partners around the world who cover over 60 languages. When they fact-check something as false, we reduce its distribution. We also reduce the distribution of other spammy, sensational content like clickbait and engagement bait– which can also coincide with misinformation. And when Pages and Groups repeatedly share this content, we reduce the distribution of all of their posts in News Feed, and remove them from the recommendations we show people. Pages may also lose their ability to monetise and advertise. We inform people by giving them more context so they can decide by themselves what to read, trust and share When a post is rated false by fact-checkers, we show warning labels with fact-checkers’ assessment and research for people who see the post, try to share it or already have. The context button provides information about the sources of articles people see in the News Feed. We also let people know when a news article they’re about to share is more than 90 days old. We also partner with local organisations around the world to promote news literacy. Misinformation is a complex and evolving problem, and we have much more work to do. With more than a billion posts on Facebook each day, we continue to find additional ways to expand our capacity.

Q3. Millions of people in Nigeria and across Africa use Facebook to bring attention to topical issues, one of them being social injustice. What significant investments is Facebook making to support social justice and human rights in Africa?

Ans: We are working closely with several NGOs across Africa around critical human rights issues showing up on our platform. These include hate speech, bullying, harassment and violence. We have partnered with these organisations to provide training on digital security and misinformation more broadly. We also have a dedicated team across Africa, the Middle East & Turkey, focused on advancing human rights across the region and ensuring we are proactively thinking about human rights risks on our platform.

Q4. The protection of activists and human right defenders continues to be a growing area of concern. What does Facebook have in place to protect these activists who fear their lives may be in danger for speaking up against social injustice?

Ans: At present, these protections range from product to policy interventions. We work closely with our product teams to better understand how we can ensure human rights defenders feel safe and secure on our platform. We also work closely with human rights defenders to better understand the kinds of dangers that may present themselves by using our platforms and think through creative solutions to these challenges.

Q5. Any final words to social justice enthusiasts from a Facebook perspective?

Ans: To revert to the mission of Facebook, social media should and does build community and bring the world together. During our recent conversation with social justice activists which was streamed live on February 24, a particular comment stood out: “We are all activists, we are all responsible”. Social justice and equity are not only about the challenge, it is also about spreading and sharing joy, support and empowerment. Our belief and work has always been and remains to facilitate and support this participation.

 

Culled from Vanguard