Meta automated moderation wrongly removes Israel-Hamas videos
Meta’s automated content moderation system unfairly removed videos depicting h ostages, injured civilians, and possible casualties in the Israel-Hamas war from Facebook and Instagram , drawing criticism from its Oversight Board and others. In one instance, a video depicted an Israeli woman pleading with kidnappers not to kill her during the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas. In another, a video posted to Instagram showed what appears to be the aftermath of a strike on or near Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City during Israel's ground offensive in the north of the Gaza Strip, including killed or injured Palestinians, including children. In both cases, the videos were automatically removed and later reinstated. Meta's independent Oversight Board ruled that the videos should not have been removed, and found that the company had lowered its content moderation thresholds to more easily catch violating content following the attack on October 7, a decision that 'also increased the likelihood of Meta mistakenly removing non-violating content related to the conflict.' The Board also argued that inadequate human-led moderation, especially in non-English languages, during these types of crises could lead to the 'incorrect removal of speech that may be of significant public interest'. It also ruled that Meta should have been swifter to allow content 'shared for the purposes of condemning, awareness-raising, news reporting or calling for release' with a warning screen applied. System 🤖 Facebook content moderation system Instagram content moderation system Developer: Meta Country: Israel; Palestine Sector: Politics Purpose: Moderate content Technology: Content moderation system; Machine learning Issue: Accountability; Employment/labo u r; Human/civil rights; Oversight; Transparency Resources 📃 Meta Violent and Graphic Content Community Standard Investigations, assessments, audits 👁️ Oversight Board (2023). Oversight Board issues first expedited decisions about Israel-Hamas conflict Oversight Board (2023). 2023-049-IG-UA - Al-Shifa Hospital Oversight Board (2023). 2023-050-FB-UA - Hostages kidnapped from Israel
- Date it happened
- 2023-01-01
- Product, system or model
- Facebook News Feed
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