Attorneys hired to review Facebook’s civil rights policies concluded Wednesday that the company has failed to adequately combat discrimination and voter suppression on its platform, and rebuked the social network’s executives for prioritizing political speech over civil rights and other values. (Politico)
In the introduction to the 89-page report, conducted by civil liberties experts and lawyers Laura W. Murphy and Megan Cacace, Murphy addressed both accomplishments and shortcomings by the platform, writing that auditors “watched the company make painful decisions over the last nine months with real-world consequences that are serious setbacks for civil rights.” (Adweek)
The report specifically mentions controversial Facebook posts published by President Trump that the company let stand on its platform. Two of the Trump posts mentioned “facilitated voter suppression,” says the report. Another Facebook post the report singles out has to do with Trump’s threat to protesters in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd. (Mashable)
Auditors also raised numerous flags about the spread of hate speech on the platform, particularly white nationalism. Facebook’s own algorithm exacerbates the problem, the audit found, by “pushing people toward extreme and divisive content,” with efforts to make the site less divisive reportedly deliberately shut down by top leadership. (HuffPost)