Facebook has apologised after an investigation revealed that its moderators make the wrong call on almost half of posts deemed offensive. The social network admitted it left up posts that violate community guidelines, despite employing 7,500 content reviewers.
An investigation by the nonprofit newsroom ProPublica found that moderators failed to remove hate speech in 22 out of 49 cases. One example included a picture of a corpse with the caption 'the only good Muslim is a f****** dead one', which was left up despite being flagged. Another post showed a woman passed out on a bed with the caption 'what would you do?', which Facebook defended as the caption condemned sexual violence.
Facebook blamed users for not flagging posts correctly in six cases and said it lacked enough information in two others. The company defended 19 of its decisions, including a racist post depicting a black man with a Kentucky Fried Chicken bucket on his head, arguing it did not attack a specific protected group.
'We're sorry for the mistakes we have made,' said Facebook VP Justin Osofsky in a statement. 'We must do better.' The company has pledged to double the number of content reviewers to improve enforcement of its rules.
