Yahoo – AFP,
Glenn CHAPMAN, November 13, 2019
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Facebook said it took down some 5.4 billion fake accounts in 2019, in a sign of an ongoing battle against manipulation and misinformation (AFP Photo/Josh Edelson) |
San
Francisco (AFP) - Facebook on Wednesday said it has taken down some 5.4 billion
fake accounts this year in a sign of the persistent battle on social media
against manipulation and misinformation.
Amid
growing efforts to create fraudulent accounts, Facebook said it has stepped up
its defenses and often removes the accounts within minutes of being created.
"We
have improved our ability to detect and block attempts to create fake, abusive
accounts," the internet firm said in its latest transparency report.
"We
can estimate that every day, we prevent millions of attempts to create fake
accounts using these detection systems."
Facebook
believes that fake accounts -- where someone pretends to be a person or entity
which does not exist -- represented about five percent of its worldwide active
users during the second and third quarters of this year.
The social
network has invested heavily in finding and taking down accounts crafted to
deceive people about where information is originating, particular when spread
as part of coordinated campaigns with political or social agendas.
The
detailed report also showed that government demands for user information hit a
new high led by the US.
Overall
request by governments for Facebook user data rose 16 percent to 128,617 in the
first half of this year.
"Of
the total volume, the US continues to submit the largest number of requests,
followed by India, the UK, Germany and France," the report stated.
Facebook
received 50,741 requests from the US for information regarding 82,461 accounts,
with roughly two-thirds of those done in a way prohibiting the social network
from letting users know about inquiries, the report showed.
"We
always scrutinize every government request we receive for account data to make
sure it is legally valid," Facebook deputy general counsel Chris Sonderby
said in an online post about the latest figures.
"This
is true no matter which government makes the request."
|
Facebook
CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the leading social network remains committed
to
rooting out fraudulent accounts that may be used to manipulate or deceive users
(AFP Photo/Drew Angerer)
|
Curbing
the disturbing
In a
detailed transparency report that, for the first time, included photo and
video-oriented social network Instagram, Facebook also highlighted progress
tackling terror, hate, suicide, child porn, and drug related posts.
"While
we are pleased with this progress, these technologies are not perfect and we
know that mistakes can still happen," Facebook said.
"That’s
why we continue to invest in systems that enable us to improve our accuracy in
removing content that violates our policies while safeguarding content that
discusses or condemns hate speech."
In a
conference call discussing the report, Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg and other
executives stressed how combining company resources allowed it to better tackle
unwanted content and activity at both Instagram and the leading social network.
Zuckerberg
has responded to political rhetoric calling for the breakup of Facebook,in part,
by arguing that such a move would actually make it harder to fight problems
such as malicious content or activities.
"This
is something we invest billions of dollars into every year," Zuckerberg
said of the battle to keep Facebook safe and secure for users.
"That
certainly weighs on profits, but there is no question it is the right thing to
do."
Zuckerberg
renewed his call for regulation that called for all internet firms to openly
disclose details about the efficiency of efforts to stop the spread of harmful
content on their platforms.
"If we
can't understand the true prevalence of harmful content across systems, we
can't stop it," Zuckerberg said.
While
fielding questions, Zuckerberg confirmed Facebook is looking at ways it might
modify its controversial policy of allowing political ads that include proven
lies.
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