Facebook: We’re better at policing nudity than hate speech

SAN FRANCISCO — Getting rid of racist, sexist, and other hateful remarks on Facebook is more challenging than weeding out other types of unacceptable posts because computer programs still stumble over the nuances of human language, the social network giant revealed on Tuesday.

Facebook’s self-assessment showed its policing system is far better at scrubbing graphic violence, gratuitous nudity, and terrorist propaganda. Automated tools detected 86 percent to 99.5 percent of the violations Facebook identified in those categories.

For hate speech, Facebook’s human reviewers and computer algorithms identified just 38 percent of the violations. The rest came after Facebook users flagged the offending content for review.

Facebook also disclosed that it disabled nearly 1.3 billion fake accounts in the six months ending in March. Had the company failed to do so, its user base would have swelled beyond its current 2.2 billion. Fake accounts have gotten more attention in recent months after it was revealed that Russian agents used them to buy ads to try to influence the 2016 elections.

Even after all that disabling, though, Facebook has said that 3 percent to 4 percent of its active monthly users are fake, meaning up to 88 million fake accounts slip through.

The report was Facebook’s first breakdown on how much material it removes for violating its policies. The statistics cover a relatively short period, from October 2017 through March of this year, and did not disclose how long it takes Facebook to remove material violating its standards. The report also did not cover how much inappropriate content Facebook missed.

“Even if they remove 100 million posts that are offensive, there will be one or two that have some really bad stuff and those will be the ones everyone winds up talking about on the cable-TV news,” said Timothy Carone, who teaches about technology at the University of Notre Dame.

The report also did not address how Facebook is tacking another vexing issue — the proliferation of fake news stories planted by Russian agents and other fabricators trying to sway elections and public opinion.

It was not surprising that Facebook’s automated programs have the greatest difficulty trying to figure out differences between permissible opinions and despicable language that crosses the line, Carone said.

“It’s like trying to figure out the equivalent between screaming ‘Fire!’ in a crowded theater when there is none and the equivalent of saying something that is uncomfortable but qualifies as free speech,” he said.

Facebook said it removed 2.5 million pieces of content deemed unacceptable hate speech during the first three months of this year, up from 1.6 million during the previous quarter. The company credited better detection, even as it said computer programs have trouble understanding context and tone of language.

SAN FRANCISCO — Getting rid of racist, sexist, and other hateful remarks on Facebook is more challenging than weeding out other types of unacceptable posts because computer programs still stumble over the nuances of human language, the social network giant revealed on Tuesday.

Facebook’s self-assessment showed its policing system is far better at scrubbing graphic violence, gratuitous nudity, and terrorist propaganda. Automated tools detected 86 percent to 99.5 percent of the violations Facebook identified in those categories.

For hate speech, Facebook’s human reviewers and computer algorithms identified just 38 percent of the violations. The rest came after Facebook users flagged the offending content for review.


Facebook also disclosed that it disabled nearly 1.3 billion fake accounts in the six months ending in March. Had the company failed to do so, its user base would have swelled beyond its current 2.2 billion. Fake accounts have gotten more attention in recent months after it was revealed that Russian agents used them to buy ads to try to influence the 2016 elections.

Even after all that disabling, though, Facebook has said that 3 percent to 4 percent of its active monthly users are fake, meaning up to 88 million fake accounts slip through.

The report was Facebook’s first breakdown on how much material it removes for violating its policies. The statistics cover a relatively short period, from October 2017 through March of this year, and did not disclose how long it takes Facebook to remove material violating its standards. The report also did not cover how much inappropriate content Facebook missed.

“Even if they remove 100 million posts that are offensive, there will be one or two that have some really bad stuff and those will be the ones everyone winds up talking about on the cable-TV news,” said Timothy Carone, who teaches about technology at the University of Notre Dame.

The report also did not address how Facebook is tacking another vexing issue — the proliferation of fake news stories planted by Russian agents and other fabricators trying to sway elections and public opinion.

It was not surprising that Facebook’s automated programs have the greatest difficulty trying to figure out differences between permissible opinions and despicable language that crosses the line, Carone said.

“It’s like trying to figure out the equivalent between screaming ‘Fire!’ in a crowded theater when there is none and the equivalent of saying something that is uncomfortable but qualifies as free speech,” he said.

Facebook said it removed 2.5 million pieces of content deemed unacceptable hate speech during the first three months of this year, up from 1.6 million during the previous quarter. The company credited better detection, even as it said computer programs have trouble understanding context and tone of language.

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Facebook took down 3.4 million pieces of graphic violence during the first three months of this year, nearly triple the 1.2 million during the previous three months.

In this case, better detection was only part of the reason. Facebook said users were more aggressively posting images of violence in places like war-torn Syria.

The increased transparency came as the Menlo Park, California-company tried to make amends for a privacy scandal triggered by loose policies that allowed a data-mining company with ties to President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign to harvest personal information on as many as 87 million users. The content screening has nothing to do with privacy protection, though, as it was aimed at maintaining a family-friendly atmosphere for users and advertisers.  /kga

source: technology.inquirer.net

Facebook website returns to service after crash

Facebook Inc.'s FB.O website crashed briefly on Thursday, temporarily preventing computer and mobile phone users from reaching the site around the globe.

During the outage, Facebook users ranging from Australia to South Korea to India and Britain were greeted with a message saying "Sorry, something went wrong".

The cause of the outage was not immediately known. Its exact duration could not be confirmed but service was restored in less than an hour.

It prevented users from posting to the social networking site "for a brief period of time", a Facebook spokesman said.

"We resolved the issue quickly, and we are now back to 100 percent," he said. "We're sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused."  — Reuters

source: gmanetwork.com

Best is yet to come, says Facebook's Zuckerberg

SAN FRANCISCO - The decade-long adventure since the founding of Facebook has been an "amazing journey," but the best is still to come, Mark Zuckerberg said.

The founder and chief executive of the world's biggest social network celebrated Tuesday's milestone in a post on his own Facebook profile.

Facebook's shares also joined the party, rising 2.07 percent to an all-time closing high of $62.75, giving a company founded by college buddies a market value of more than $150 billion.

"Today is Facebook's 10th anniversary... and I'm so grateful to be a part of it," Zuckerberg wrote.



The 29-year-old executive said Facebook succeeded because "we just cared more about connecting the world than anyone else. And we still do today.

"That's why I'm even more excited about the next 10 years than the last," he added.

He said the first decade was "about bootstrapping this network. Now we have the resources to help people across the world solve even bigger and more important problems."

Zuckerberg said he is often asked if he knew Facebook would become what it is today and he responds, "No way."

"I remember getting pizza with my friends one night in college shortly after opening Facebook. I told them I was excited to help connect our school community, but one day someone needed to connect the whole world."

"When I reflect on the last 10 years, one question I ask myself is: why were we the ones to build this? We were just students. We had way fewer resources than big companies. If they had focused on this problem, they could have done it."

Zuckerberg said he sees a different role for Facebook in the future.

"Today, social networks are mostly about sharing moments. In the next decade, they'll also help you answer questions and solve complex problems," he wrote.

The company's own Facebook page carried a short message, saying "Turning 10, Thanks to You: Our 10th birthday only happened because of all your friendships, stories and memories along the way. Thank you."

The page also showed a video of a birthday party of 10-year-old children.

For each user, Facebook provided a "Look Back" video with highlights from items shared on the network.

Facebook, which has some 1.23 billion users worldwide and has grown into one of the biggest technology firms, was planning a low-key celebration.

"Just as we do every year, we will have an internal party on Friday afternoon," Facebook spokeswoman Arielle Aryah told AFP in response to a query regarding the company's birthday celebration plans.

Facebook broke ground late last year on an expansion to its campus in former Sun Microsystems digs in the Silicon Valley city of Menlo Park. The new West Campus was designed by respected architect Frank Gehry.

A Pew Research Center survey released Monday suggests no slowing momentum, even though more than half of US users said they are turned off by over sharing and didn't like the fact that they showed up in pictures without giving permission.

According to the research firm eMarketer, Facebook has become the second-largest recipient of digital advertising spending behind Google, and is particularly strong in mobile ads.

Ben Harper at the research firm Socialbakers said Facebook got where it is because of its constant innovation.

"It's easy to forget that features such as timeline, graph search and business pages haven't always been there for us to use," Harper wrote in a blog post.

"For businesses, Facebook has become a platform for reaching and engaging with current and potential new customers," he said.

"For users, Facebook has changed the way we interact with friends, family and our favorite brands. We're sure Facebook has many more innovations and surprises coming in the near future." — Agence France-Presse

source: gmanetwork.com

Facebook plans low-key birthday bash

SAN FRANCISCO - Facebook has grown into an Internet giant over the last decade, but it is celebrating its birthday with a low-key, belated party and an eye toward the future.

While the arrival of its 10th anniversary on Tuesday has pundits analyzing the social network's past and theorizing about its future, the Internet juggernaut is trying to stay focused on the job at hand.

"Just as we do every year, we will have an internal party on Friday afternoon," Facebook spokeswoman Arielle Aryah told AFP in response to a query regarding the company's birthday celebration plans.

It remained to be seen whether the Menlo Park, California-based social network, which now boasts over a billion users, had something playful planned for its actual anniversary on Tuesday.

In an earnings call last week to discuss stellar quarterly results, Facebook chief and co-found Mark Zuckerberg gave a nod to the growth seen during the past decade but focused on the future.

Zuckerberg spoke of making "apps" for showcasing Facebook features on smartphones or tablets to stay in synch with mobile Internet lifestyles.

Long-range goals included using artificial intelligence to figure out how pictures, videos, comments and more shared at Facebook are related and of shooting toward helping people share anything they want, with anyone they want, whenever they want.

Facebook broke ground late last year on an expansion to its campus in former Sun Microsystem digs in the Silicon Valley city of Menlo Park.

The new West Campus was designed by respected architect Frank Gehry.

As Facebook celebrates its 10th anniversary, the world's biggest social network is finding its path as a maturing company, adapting to an aging user base.

Zuckerberg has repeatedly described Facebook's mission as "making the world more open and connected," and some say he has accomplished just that.

The company created in a Harvard dorm room in 2004 has established itself as a phenomenon, securing its place in the world of the technology giants.

"Facebook has made the world much smaller, much more interactive," said Global Equities Research analyst Trip Chowdhry.

In its short history, Facebook has become a part of daily life for more than a billion people around the globe.

"More than 20 percent of all time spent on the Internet is spent on Facebook," says Lou Kerner, founder of the Social Internet Fund.

Facebook says it has a global total of 1.23 billion monthly active users, including 945 million who use the social network on a mobile device.

And, a Pew Research Center survey released Monday suggests no slowing momentum for the network, even though more than half of US Facebook users said they are turned off by oversharing and didn't like the fact that they showed up in pictures without giving permission.

After a calamitous initial public offering in May 2012 plagued by technical glitches, Facebook saw its share price slump by half.

But the company has been on a roll for the past year, with its stock hitting record highs.

According to the research firm eMarketer, Facebook has become the second-largest recipient of digital advertising spending behind Google, and is particularly strong in mobile ads.

"Facebook appears the best way to play the social Internet," Morgan Stanley analysts said in a note to clients, preferring Facebook to the up-and-coming network Twitter. — Agence France-Presse

source: gmanetwork.com

Facebook Q4 revenue rises more than expected

SAN FRANCISCO - Facebook Inc's fourth-quarter revenue jumped 63 percent, beating Wall Street targets, as the Internet company's mobile ad sales continued to accelerate.

Shares of Facebook were up 7 percent at $57.36 in after-hours trading on Wednesday.

The world's largest social networking company said that revenue from mobile ads represented 53 percent of its total advertising revenue in the last three months of the year, or $1.24 billion, versus the 49 percent proportion that mobile ads represented in the third quarter.

Facebook said it now has 1.23 billion monthly users, with 945 million accessing the service on a smartphone or tablet.

Overall revenue in the fourth quarter rose to $2.585 billion, compared with $1.585 billion in the year-ago period and above the $2.33 billion expected by analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Facebook reported net income of $523 million, or 20 cents a share, versus $64 million or 3 cents a share in the year-ago period. Excluding certain items, Facebook said it earned 31 cents a share.  — Reuters

source: gmanetwork.com

Sandberg a billionaire as Facebook shares hit new high

SAN FRANCISCO - Facebook shares climbed to a new high on Tuesday, catapulting chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg onto the roster of tech billionaires.

Shares of the world's leading social network closed the Nasdaq trading day at $58.51, shedding a few cents in after-hours trade.

Sandberg owns about $750 million worth of Facebook stock and is said to have sold about $300 million worth of shares since the California-based company became a publicly traded company in May of 2012.

The 44-year-old former Google executive is also reported to have stock options for nearly five million shares that began vesting last year.

The social media giant started by Mark Zuckerberg, which now has more than 1.1 billion users around the globe, had a rocky debut after it went public at $38 a share with a valuation of $16 billion.

Facebook shares dropped below $20 during the ensuing months and only climbed back over their offer price in July of last year.

Zuckerberg, who will turn 30 in May, has a personal fortune estimated at about $19 billion.

Facebook will release its quarterly earnings figures next week. —Agence France-Presse

source: gmanetwork.com

Facebook's mobile app now lets you edit posts

This should come as a major relief for Facebook users who might want to take back what they just posted from their mobile phones.

Facebook is finally rolling out the ability to edit status updates, starting with the app for Google's Android operating system, tech site Mashable reported.

But Mashable said editing did not appear immediately enabled on the Android devices it experimented with, though it added Facebook had "confirmed" the editing feature will roll out to Facebook users on the web and Android devices "over the next day."

As for iPhone and iPad users, Mashable said the editing feature might be pushed out "in the next update."

With the latest app, users will see an option to "Edit Post" when they click on the drop-down arrow in the top-right part of a post.








For autocorrect

TechHive.com said the feature is focused on undoing the potential damage of autocorrect.

It quoted a Facebook spokeswoman who told it via email that the feature can be used “if you notice a typo or get tripped up by auto-correct.” (http://www.techhive.com/article/2049980/facebook-allows-edits-for-typos-and-botched-autocorrects.html)

'Potentially dicey territory'

Mashable said editing posts was potentially dicey territory for Facebook, since a user can fool friends into liking a post, only to change that post later on.

"A user could conceivably write, 'Who likes ice cream?' and get hundreds of Likes and affirming comments, then edit the post to read, 'Who wants to beat up some cats?'" it said.

But Facebook had since addressed this by marking an edited post and allowing users to access the history of an edited post.

Its rival Google+ has a similar mechanism.

"It's likely Facebook examined all the potential abuses and concluded the risk in letting users alter posts was minimal," Mashable said.

Besides, it said a user who would mislead followers or friends with a maliciously edited post "would likely soon find themselves with few followers or friends of any value."

It added the feature will be more valuable to journalists, who can make corrections without having to delete and rewrite entire updates, and losing conversation threads in the process.
 — TJD, GMA News

source: gmanetwork.com