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Facebook expands work with non-profits to remove & counter extremist videos

In the same week YouTube announced that it will be working with non-profit organizations to help identify and remove extremist videos from its platform, Facebook is expanding a similar initiative …

The company said that it will be bringing to the UK a two-pronged strategy first used in France and Germany.

The primary approach is to train non-governmental organizations to identify videos which contravene the company’s policy forbidding videos that promote hate, extremism or terrorism. Non-profit groups will be trained and funded by the company, and given direct links to staff who can quickly review and remove the material.

Additionally, the Telegraph reports that Facebook will also give free advertising to anti-terror groups to help them counter radical propaganda messages.

Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s chief operating officer, said that “no one should have to live in fear of terrorism, and we all have a part to play in stopping violent extremism from spreading. There is no place for hate or violence on Facebook. Partnerships with others – including tech companies, civil society, researchers and governments – are a crucial piece of the puzzle.”

The move is in response to pressure from the British government, which said that companies were failing to respond sufficiently quickly to extremist videos. YouTube faced more direct pressure when advertisers began boycotting the platform after their ads were embedded within or appearing alongside hate videos.


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