YouTube & Twitter lag Facebook in removal of hate speech
YouTube and Twitter find themselves at odds with the EU once again after Brussels declared that both internet firms failed to meet continent-wide standards on hate speech removal – despite signing up to the European Commission’s code of conduct on the issue last year.
YouTube & Twitter lag Facebook in removal of hate speech
Their failure to meet minimum standards on removing hate speech stands in stark contrast to Facebook which can now boast of meeting the EU’s stipulated target by assessing 57.9% of all content flagged as ‘hate speech’ within a 24-hour window.
Its social media compatriots meanwhile fall someway off the 50% mark with YouTube coming closest at 42.6% and Twitter way behind in managing to assess just 39% of cases.
Twitter’s head of public policy in Europe, Karen White, acknowledged that the firm must do more to improve the situation, declaring that ‘our work will never be done’.
A YouTube spokesperson also conceded that the firm needed to do more, declaring: “The commission’s self-regulatory approach is pragmatic and focused on action. We’ve learned a lot from the process and will continue to invest heavily in people and systems to address these issues.”
Facebook removed 66.5% of flagged content in May – up from just 28% in December – after it recruited an additional 3,000 hands to review and expunge illicit material, nevertheless while its rivals fall some way behind at present their direction of travel towards a common goal remains the same.
EU consumer protection agencies previously issued Facebook, Google and Twitter with an ultimatum over their illegal terms of service.