Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Why Does Facebook Fail to Fix Itself? It's Complicated
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 6 years ago on
May 10, 2019

Share

SAN FRANCISCO — The question comes up over and over, with extremist material, hate speech, election meddling and privacy invasions. Why can’t Facebook just fix it?

“They have been frustratingly slow in dealing with everything from child sexual abuse to terrorism, white supremacy, bullying, nonconsensual porn.” — Hany Farid, digital forensics expert at University of California, Berkeley

It’s complicated, with reasons that include Facebook’s size, its business model and technical limitations, not to mention years of unchecked growth. Oh, and the element of human nature.

The latest revelation: Facebook is inadvertently creating celebratory videos using extremist content and auto-generating business pages for the likes of ISIS and Al Qaida. The company says it is working on solutions and the problems are getting better. That is true, but critics say better is not good enough when mass shootings are being live-streamed and online mobs are spreading rumors that lead to deadly violence.

“They have been frustratingly slow in dealing with everything from child sexual abuse to terrorism, white supremacy, bullying, nonconsensual porn” and things like allowing advertisers to target categories such as “Jew hater,” simply because some users had listed the term as an “interest,” said Hany Farid, a digital forensics expert at the University of California, Berkeley.

As new problems crop up, Facebook’s formula has been to apologize and promise to make changes, sometimes also noting that it did not anticipate how malicious actors could so readily misuse its platform. More recently, the company has also emphasized just how much it is improving, both technically in its use of artificial intelligence to detect problems and in terms of focusing more money and effort on fixing them.

Is Facebook Removing Terrorism Content ‘at a Far Higher Success Rate’?

“After making heavy investments, we are detecting and removing terrorism content at a far higher success rate than even two years go,” Facebook said Wednesday in response to the revelations about the auto-generated pages. “We don’t claim to find everything, and we remain vigilant in our efforts against terrorist groups around the world.”

It has seen some success. In late 2016, CEO Mark Zuckerberg infamously dismissed as “pretty crazy” the idea that fake news on his service could have swayed the election. He later backtracked, and since then the company has reduced the amount of misinformation shared on its service, as measured by several independent studies.

Zuckerberg has also, by and large, avoided similar gaffes by conceding mistakes and delivering apologies to the public and to lawmakers.

But even as the company bats down one problem, others pop up. The reason for that might be baked into its DNA. And that’s not just because its business model relies on as many people as possible using it as much as possible, leaving behind personal details that can then be targeted by advertisers.

Photo of a Facebook terror group
A Facebook auto-generated page for a group identifying itself as the terror group “Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula” displays a photo of the bombed U.S. Navy warship USS Cole. The page was still live as of May 7, when the screen grab was made. Facebook says it has robust systems in place to remove content from extremist groups, but a sealed whistleblower’s complaint reviewed by the AP says banned content remains on the web and easy to find. (Facebook via AP)

‘We Are Basically Stuck With All This Garbage’

“Almost everything Facebook has designed has been designed for good people. People who are nice to each other, who have birthdays to celebrate, who have new puppies and generally like to treat others well,” said Siva Vaidhyanathan, director of the Center for Media and Citizenship at the University of Virginia. “Basically Facebook is made for a better species than ours. If it were made for golden retrievers, everything would be great.”

“Every couple of weeks, we hear about Facebook knocking down troublesome pages, making promises about hiring more people, building AI and so on. But at Facebook’s scale, none of that will matter.” — Siva Vaidhyanathan, director of the Center for Media and Citizenship at the University of Virginia

But if just 1% of the 2.4 billion people on Facebook want to do terrible things to others, that’s 24 million people.

“Every couple of weeks, we hear about Facebook knocking down troublesome pages, making promises about hiring more people, building AI and so on,” Vaidhyanathan said. “But at Facebook’s scale, none of that will matter. We are basically stuck with all this garbage.”

Chris Hughes, a co-founder of Facebook, called for a breakup of the social media giant in a Thursday op-ed. Vaidhyanathan also thinks strong government regulation could be the answer, such as laws that “limit companies’ ability to suck up all our data and use it to target advertising.”

“We really should be addressing the back end of Facebook,” he said. “That’s what you have to attack.”

DON'T MISS

Wired Wednesday: Fired Teacher and Coach Ed Madec Seeks Justice

DON'T MISS

Fresno Location Is Among the 500 JOANN Fabrics Closures

DON'T MISS

Clovis Wrestles With Fallout From ‘Non-Sanctuary City’ Idea

DON'T MISS

California Farm Donates Hundreds of Thousands of Eggs to Wildfire Victims, First Responders

DON'T MISS

As Council Race Heats Up, Dyer Credits ‘One Fresno’ for New SE Sports Park

DON'T MISS

Editorials of The Times: Now Is Not the Time to Tune Out

DON'T MISS

Fresno Unified Substitute Questions Students About Immigration Status

DON'T MISS

USAID in Turmoil as Aid Programs Cut, Staff Stranded

DON'T MISS

Look Past Elon Musk’s Chaos. There’s Something More Sinister at Work.

DON'T MISS

Navy Crew Members Eject From Their Jet Before It Crashes off the San Diego Coast

UP NEXT

USAID in Turmoil as Aid Programs Cut, Staff Stranded

UP NEXT

Navy Crew Members Eject From Their Jet Before It Crashes off the San Diego Coast

UP NEXT

Belarus Releases 3 People, Including an American and a Jailed Journalist

UP NEXT

Pentagon’s New Media Rotation Program Boots NPR, NY Times, NBC News

UP NEXT

President Trump and Putin Have Agreed to Start Negotiations to End the Ukraine War

UP NEXT

Apple Changes Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America on Maps

UP NEXT

Too Few Tents Entering Gaza Threatens the Truce. Here’s What’s Happening

UP NEXT

California’s FAIR Plan Needs $1B for Wildfire Claims, Costs Passed to Policyholders

UP NEXT

US Defense Chief Hegseth Calls NATO Membership for Ukraine Unrealistic

UP NEXT

California Man Calls 375 Hoax Threats in Swatting Spree Will Face Prison Time

California Farm Donates Hundreds of Thousands of Eggs to Wildfire Victims, First Responders

14 hours ago

As Council Race Heats Up, Dyer Credits ‘One Fresno’ for New SE Sports Park

14 hours ago

Editorials of The Times: Now Is Not the Time to Tune Out

15 hours ago

Fresno Unified Substitute Questions Students About Immigration Status

15 hours ago

USAID in Turmoil as Aid Programs Cut, Staff Stranded

15 hours ago

Look Past Elon Musk’s Chaos. There’s Something More Sinister at Work.

15 hours ago

Navy Crew Members Eject From Their Jet Before It Crashes off the San Diego Coast

16 hours ago

Kellen Moore Exits Eagles to Become Saints Head Coach

16 hours ago

The Deadly Truth: Record Number of Journalists Killed in 2024

17 hours ago

CHP K-9 Seizes 50 Pounds of Illicit Mushrooms in Fresno County

17 hours ago

Wired Wednesday: Fired Teacher and Coach Ed Madec Seeks Justice

On this week’s Wired Wednesday, GV Wire senior reporter David Taub talks with KMPH Fox 26 “Great Day” anchor Karl Cooke about the firing of ...

12 hours ago

12 hours ago

Wired Wednesday: Fired Teacher and Coach Ed Madec Seeks Justice

13 hours ago

Fresno Location Is Among the 500 JOANN Fabrics Closures

13 hours ago

Clovis Wrestles With Fallout From ‘Non-Sanctuary City’ Idea

Rosemary Farm family representatives Jose Pelayo, left, and Lisa Stothart deliver a donation of hundreds of thousands of fresh eggs to feed first responders and those in need in the community through the donation of Rosemary Eggs at the Los Angeles Food Regional Bank in City of Industry, Calif., Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. (AP/Damian Dovarganes)
14 hours ago

California Farm Donates Hundreds of Thousands of Eggs to Wildfire Victims, First Responders

14 hours ago

As Council Race Heats Up, Dyer Credits ‘One Fresno’ for New SE Sports Park

President Donald Trump signs an executive order on birthright citizenship in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington. (AP/Evan Vucci)
15 hours ago

Editorials of The Times: Now Is Not the Time to Tune Out

15 hours ago

Fresno Unified Substitute Questions Students About Immigration Status

Priya Kathpal, right, and Taylor Williamson, left, who work for a company doing contract work for the United States Agency for International Development, or USAID, carry signs outside the USAID headquarters in Washington, Monday, Feb. 10, 2025. (AP/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
15 hours ago

USAID in Turmoil as Aid Programs Cut, Staff Stranded

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend