Facebook Steps Up Hate Speech Crackdown, Removing 22.5 Million Posts in Q2

Facebook took down 22.5 million posts for hate speech during the second quarter of this year, more than ten times the number it removed in the same quarter last year and more than twice the number removed in the first quarter of 2020.

Why it matters: The company is facing enormous pressure from the advertising and civil rights communities to address hate speech on its platforms. Last month, civil rights groups initiated a Facebook ad boycott that was joined by over 1,000 advertisers.

Driving the news: The company said Tuesday it’s getting better at policing hate speech, noting in its sixth “Community Standards Enforcement Report” that 95% of all hate speech on its platforms was caught by automated systems before it was ever seen by users — up from 89% during the first quarter of 2020.

• Facebook attributed the increase in action against hate speech content to the expansion of some of its automation technology in Spanish, Arabic and Indonesian, as well as improvements to its English detection technology in Q1.
• The company said improvements to its technology also helped it increase the amount of terrorism content that it was able to take action on.

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• Facebook VP of Content Policy Monika Bickert said the company is also creating a “Diversity Advisory Council” to help inform its content enforcement standards.