Nov. 16 (UPI) — Facebook will create an independent governing body to monitor content on the social network, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said after a scathing New York Times article this week.
The new panel will be like a board of directors that’s accountable to the community of 2.2 billion users, Zuckerberg said in a blog post Thursday.
“We have a responsibility to keep people safe on our services — whether from terrorism, bullying or other threats,” he wrote. “We also have a broader social responsibility to help bring people closer together — against polarization and extremism.”
Zuckerberg said he’s seen the spread of misinformation, interference in elections and incitements of violence over the last two years. Earlier this year, Facebook banned controversial pages, such as far-right website Inforwars and founder Alex Jones. The company has also faced criticism that it’s targeting conservative or Republican viewpoints disproportionately.
This week, The New York Times reported that Facebook paid Definers Public Affairs to monitor press coverage of Facebook. The political campaign group also got Facebook to support certain bills that would show its opponents in a negative light, the report said.
In an earnings call this week, Zuckerberg denied knowing what Definers’ role was with the company.
In April, Facebook updated internal guidelines for enforcing content standards. The company has since removed 754 million accounts.
“These guidelines are designed to reduce subjectivity and ensure that decisions made by reviewers are as consistent as possible,” Zuckerberg said.
Facebook said it will publish the minutes of its meetings in which it enlists help from outside experts and organizations for perspectives on free expression.
Zuckerberg also said the company’s long-term goal is to develop technology that can “proactively remove harmful content” and reduce the distribution of borderline content. The goal is to give people more control of what they see in their feeds, it said.
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