Facebook grooming 7,500 content reviewers for objectionable posts
San Francisco, July 28 : After facing ire over reports that its moderators protect far-right activists and under-age accounts, Facebook says it is constantly grooming over 7,500 content reviewers how to handle posts related to hate speeches, terror and child sexual exploitation on its platform.
The content reviewers are a mix of full-time employees, contractors and companies Facebook partners with -- covering every time zone and over 50 languages across the world.
"Content review at this size has never been done before. After all, there has never been a platform where so many people communicate in so many different languages across so many different countries and cultures. We recognise the enormity of this challenge and the responsibility we have to get it right," Ellen Silver, Vice President of Operations at Facebook, wrote in a blog post on Friday.
"Language proficiency is key and it lets us review content around the clock. If something is reported in a language that we don't support 24/7, we can work with translation companies and other experts who can help us understand local context and language to assist in reviewing it," Silver added.
The company came under heavy criticism Channel 4 Dispatches -- a documentary series -- sent an undercover reporter to work as a content moderator in a Dublin-based Facebook contractor.
It showed that moderators at Facebook were preventing Pages from far-right activists from being deleted even after they violate the rules.
In a blog post, Monika Bickert, Vice President of Global Policy Management at Facebook, said the TV report on Channel 4 in the UK raised important questions about their policies and processes.
Facebook has also promised to double the number of people working on its safety and security teams this year to 20,000.
Silver said the company is training its team of content reviewers in three areas -- pre-training which includes what to expect on the job; hands-on learning that includes a minimum of 80 hours with a live instructor followed by hands-on practice and ongoing coaching.
"We want to keep personal perspectives and biases out of the equation entirely -- so, in theory, two people reviewing the same posts would always make the same decision. Of course, judgments can vary if policies aren't sufficiently prescriptive.
Facebook said it audits a sample of reviewer decisions each week to find out if a wrong call was made.
"Our auditors are even audited on a regular basis. In addition, we have leadership at each office to provide guidance, as well as weekly check-ins with policy experts to answer any questions," said the social media giant.
Facebook said it has a team of four clinical psychologists across three regions who are tasked with designing, delivering and evaluating resiliency programmes for everyone who works with graphic and objectionable content.
"This group also works with our vendor partners and their dedicated resiliency teams to help build industry standards," said Silver.
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Prasidh, Kuldeep limit South Africa to 270 after De Kock's hundred
Visakhapatnam (PTI): India fought back gallantly through Prasidh Krishna and Kuldeep Yadav after Quinton de Kock struck his 23rd hundred, keeping South Africa to a manageable 270 in the third and series-deciding final ODI, here Saturday.
India won the toss after judging the spin of the coin incorrectly 20 times in a row. They had little hesitation in inserting the Proteas into bat, a clear indication of dew factor dominating the thought.
After Arshdeep Singh sent back Ryan Rickelton early, De Kock (106, 89b, 8x4, 6x4) struck his seventh century against India and put on 113 runs off 124 balls with skipper Temba Bavuma (48, 67b) as the visitors moved to a healthy position.
De Kock was severe on Prasidh (4/66), who erred on length continuously in his first spell (2-0-27-0). The left-hander biffed the pacer for 6, 6, 4 in his second over to milk 18 runs.
The 32-year-old quickly pounced on anything that was short, and pacers Prasidh and Harshit offered him plenty of feed on his pet areas.
Bavuma was more sedate, and made runs through those typical dabs and jabs, occasionally unfurling a drive of elan.
De Kock moved to fifty in 42 balls, and never let the tempo down reaching his hundred in 79 balls.
India found temporary relief when Ravindra Jadeja induced a false slash from Bavuma to get caught by Virat Kohli at point.
The tourists got another move on through a 54-run partnership between De Kock and Matthew Breetzkle for the third wicket, and at 168 for two in 28 overs they were in a good position to press on.
But Breetzke's punishment of part-time spinner Tilak Varma forced a rethink in the Indian camp, as skipper KL Rahul brought back Prasidh for a second spell.
What a masterstroke it turned out to be! The Karnataka man broke the back of South Africa’s top and middle order in an exceptional second spell (4-0-11-3).
Breetzke was the first man to go, trapped plumb in front with a straight one and four balls later Aiden Markram uppishly chipped a fuller delivery to Kohli at short covers.
Prasidh soon castled De Kock, whose ugly cross-batted swipe failed to connect a full length delivery from the pacer.
All of a sudden, SA found themselves at a shaky 199 for five, losing three wickets in the space of three overs.
Once Prasidh was done away with the top and middle-order, left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep (4/41) took over and mopped up the tail as SA fell short of even a par total on this track.
