BFF-08 Facebook to tighten live stream access after mosque attacks

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Facebook to tighten live stream access after mosque attacks

SAN FRANCISCO, March 30, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Facebook on Friday said it is
tightening live video streaming rules in response to the service being used
to broadcast deadly attacks on mosques in New Zealand.

The Christchurch attacks — carried out by a self-avowed white supremacist
who opened fire on worshippers at two mosques — claimed 50 lives.

Many people have “rightly questioned how online platforms such as Facebook
were used to circulate horrific videos of the attack,” chief operating
officer Sheryl Sandberg said in an online post.

“In the wake of the terrorist attack, we are taking three steps:
strengthening the rules for using Facebook Live, taking further steps to
address hate on our platforms, and supporting the New Zealand community,” she
added.

Facebook is looking into barring people who have previously violated the
social network’s community standards from livestreaming on its platform,
according to Sandberg.

The social network is also investing in improving software to quickly
identify edited versions of violent video or images to prevent them from be
shared or re-posted.

“While the original New Zealand attack video was shared Live, we know that
this video spread mainly through people re-sharing it and re-editing it to
make it harder for our systems to block it,” Sandberg said.

“People with bad intentions will always try to get around our security
measures.”

Facebook identified more than 900 different videos showing portions of the
streamed violence.

– Hateful nationalism –

The social network is using artificial intelligence tools to identify and
remove hate groups in Australia and New Zealand, according to Sandberg.

Those groups will be banned from Facebook services, she said.

Facebook this week announce it would ban praise or support for white
nationalism and white separatism as part of a stepped-up crackdown on hate
speech.

The ban will be enforced starting next week on the leading online social
network and its image-centric messaging service Instagram.

“It’s clear that these concepts are deeply linked to organized hate groups
and have no place on our services,” the social network said in a statement.

Facebook policies already banned posts endorsing white supremacy as part of
its prohibition against spewing hate at people based on characteristics such
as race, ethnicity or religion.

The ban had not applied to some postings because it was reasoned they were
expressions of broader concepts of nationalism or political independence,
according to the social network.

Facebook said that conversations with academics and “members of civil
society” in recent months led it to view white nationalism and separatism as
linked to organized hate groups.

People who enter search terms associated with white supremacy will get
results referring them to resources such as Life After Hate, which focus on
helping people turn their backs on such groups, according to Facebook.

Amid pressure from governments around the world, Facebook has ramped up
machine learning and artificial intelligence tools for finding and removing
hateful content.

“We are deeply committed to strengthening our policies, improving our
technology and working with experts to keep Facebook safe,” Sandberg said.

“We must all stand united against hate and work together to fight it
wherever and whenever it occurs.”

BSS/AFP/GMR/0909 hrs