UPDATED 23:46 EDT / JUNE 08 2020

POLICY

Facebook outsourcing moderation is hurting the public, states new report

A new report from the New York University Stern Center for Business and Human Rights accuses Facebook Inc. and other social media giants of skimping on moderation by outsourcing it to other companies.

The 32-page study, released Monday, says moderation is an essential part of any social media company, and not only do firms need to stop outsourcing the work to vendors, but they need to bolster moderation and improve working conditions for moderators.

Facebook was the company the report focused on the most, with the writers stating that Facebook’s team of 15,000 mainly outsourced moderators was insufficient and Facebook needs to at least double that number and do the work in-house.

The writers said Facebook’s “strategy of relentlessly growth” has led to so much content being posted on the social network that 15,000 people are inadequate, while those that are tasked with doing the job are paid little and work in a very challenging environment.

Indeed, moderating Facebook has been called the worst job in the technology. In May, Facebook agreed to pay a group of moderators $52 million for various mental health conditions they suffered after doing the work. The company said it would improve working conditions and offer counseling sessions to current and future staff.

The report argues that moderation should be a central part of the company, not farmed out to people in distant offices. It states that mistakes have been made that have cost human lives around the world, so Facebook needs to hire moderating staff with more knowledge of culture and politics of various countries.

The report also recommends that all moderation be overseen by a senior official at the company and moderation policies routinely scrutinized. That includes looking more closely at narrowly tailored government regulation.  Lastly, the authors of the report say that with a larger team working closer to home, disinformation and hoaxes could be dealt with better.

Photo: Thought Catalog/Flickr

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