Facebook to hire 10,000 new employees to fight hate speech
Zuckerberg's social network promises further efforts against hate and agitation on the net and plans to double the team responsible for this this year.
"We haven't done enough to stop the misuse of our technology," Facebook CEO Sheryl Sandberg said Tuesday in Brussels. Terror and violence have no place on Facebook, she added. Already, she said, 10,000 employees were working to improve protection and security. The number should double by the end of the year, Sandberg said.
The goal is to delete hateful content. All users should feel safe. "But that's complicated because there's no universal definition of hate content," Sandberg said. People are following the scientific debate and deleting a lot of content, she said. "But we can always do better," she said. They are following European guidelines, including guidelines for dealing with hate content, she said.
The background is also the dispute over legal requirements for deleting content through the Network Enforcement Act in Germany. Facebook's head of policy Elliot Schräge had reiterated his criticism of the law only on Monday. The European Union has so far relied on cooperation with Internet corporations instead of regulations.
Sandberg also stressed that Facebook is working to constantly improve data protection for users. In addition, she said, the U.S. company has taken note of the tax debate in Europe. "And we are voluntarily changing our approach," she said. "We now pay taxes locally on the profits we make locally." Facebook is addressing concerns, she said. "More important than anything, we want to do the right thing," Sandberg said. (SDA/DPA)
