Technology
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Technology
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Meta says harmless content taken down ‘too often’
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Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, said Tuesday its error rates can be “too high” when enforcing content moderation policies and pledged improvements.
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© Jeff Chiu, Associated Press file
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“We know that when enforcing our policies, our error rates are too high, which gets in the way of the free expression we set out to enable,” Nick Clegg, president of global affairs for Meta, wrote in a blog post Tuesday.
“Too often harmless content gets taken down or restricted and too many people get penalized unfairly.“
Meta and other leading social media companies have faced increasing pressure in recent years to boost the safety of their platforms amid hateful or misleading information while also ensuring users have free speech online.
The tech giant has worked throughout the past year to update and apply content policies “fairly,” Clegg said, noting no platform will ever strike this balance correctly “100 percent of the time.”
He vowed the company will continue to work on this in the coming months.
Clegg, during a separate call with reporters Monday, said Meta regrets the large amount of COVID-19 related content it took down during the pandemic, The Verge reported.
The comments come after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg told the House Judiciary Committee in August that he regrets not being more outspoken about “government pressure” to remove content related to COVID-19.
Zuckerberg, in a letter to the committee, said Biden administration officials “repeatedly pressured” Meta to “censor” content in 2021 and vowed to push back should something similar happen again.
Read more at TheHill.com.
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Welcome to The Hill’s Technology newsletter, we’re Miranda Nazzaro and Julia Shapero — tracking the latest moves from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley.
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How policy will be impacting the tech sector now and in the future:
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China has banned exports of some rare minerals to the United States as tensions over trade heat up after the U.S. issued new restrictions on exports of certain semiconductor chips and equipment to China earlier this week. The Chinese Commerce Ministry’s new directive applies to minerals including gallium, germanium, antimony and other materials with potential military applications, The Associated Press reported. The directive, …
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A consumer advocacy group wants the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to open an investigation into whether Dr. Mehmet Oz violated influencer marketing rules by promoting products from a wellness and supplement company across social media without appropriate disclosures. In a letter sent to the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection Tuesday, Public Citizen said Oz regularly cross-posts content for iHerb among various social …
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Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) criticized California for a recent proposal that would cut Tesla out of receiving electric vehicle (EV) credits during a Tuesday appearance on CNBC. “California having electric vehicle tax credits makes all the sense, but excluding Elon Musk and Tesla for probably political reasons is just foolish,” Khanna said in the clip highlighted by Grabien. “The reality is, Tesla is the biggest manufacturer of …
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A Delaware judge again blocked Elon Musk’s multibillion-dollar pay package from Tesla on Monday. The controversial compensation agreement, which is now worth more than $100 billion, was reapproved by Tesla shareholders in June. However, Delaware Chancery Judge Kathaleen McCormick declined to overturn her earlier decision invalidating the pay package. “The large and talented group of defense firms got creative with the …
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New Data: Young Voters Sound the Alarm on KOSA
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New data collected just before Election Day confirms that young voters are concerned that the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) poses significant risks of censorship and harm to marginalized communities. Learn more.
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News we’ve flagged from the intersection of tech and other topics:
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Google voiced concerns about Israeli contract
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Prior to signing a $1.2 billion cloud computing contract with the Israeli government in 2021, Google officials privately voiced concerns that its services could be used for or linked to human rights violations, The New York Times reported.
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X hires new communications head
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X has brought on Dave Heinzinger, a marketing industry communications veteran, to oversee the social platform’s media strategy, Axios reported.
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Microsoft faces £1B cloud computing suit in UK
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Microsoft is facing a £1 billion, or about $1.27 billion, lawsuit in the United Kingdom for allegedly overcharging customers who use rival cloud services, CNBC reported.
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Upcoming news themes and events we’re watching:
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Amazon Web Services is hosting its first-ever AWS Capitol Hill Cloud Day at the Consumer Technology Association Innovation House on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m.
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The House Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing “Innovation Revolution: How Technology is Shaping the Future of Finance” on Wednesday at 10 a.m.
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Branch out with other reads on The Hill:
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Trump FCC pick promises crackdown on social media ‘censorship cartel’
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Brendan Carr, President-elect Trump’s pick to chair the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), vowed Monday to break up the “censorship cartel” of social media platforms. “I think Americans have been seeing an unprecedented surge in censorship, particularly over the last couple of years,” Carr said on NewsNation’s “CUOMO,” adding, “It’s going to be one of my top priorities, is trying to smash this censorship cartel.” …
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New Data: Young Voters Sound the Alarm on KOSA
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New data collected just before Election Day confirms that young voters are concerned that the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) poses significant risks of censorship and harm to marginalized communities. Learn more.
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Two key stories on The Hill right now:
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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) vented his displeasure Monday after two Democratic-appointed federal judges reversed their decisions … Read more
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Incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) laid out an ambitious plan at the Senate Republican retreat Tuesday for Congress to move first … Read more
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Opinions related to tech submitted to The Hill:
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You’re all caught up. See you tomorrow!
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