Facebook shielding far-right activists, under-age accounts: Report
London, July 17 : Moderators at Facebook are protecting far-right activists, preventing their Pages from being deleted even after they violate the rules set up by the social media giant, the media reported.
The process called "shielded review" was uncovered by Channel 4 Dispatches - a documentary series that sent an undercover reporter to work as a content moderator in a Dublin-based Facebook contractor.
"In the documentary, a moderator tells the 'Dispatches' reporter that Britain First's pages were left up, even though they repeatedly broke Facebook's rules, because 'they have a lot of followers so they're generating a lot of revenue for Facebook'," the Guardian reported on Tuesday.
Similarly, popular pages, including those of activists like Tommy Robinson, are protected from Facebook rules. Robinson is currently in jail, serving a 13-month sentence for contempt of court.
Richard Allan, Facebook's Head of Public Policy, was quoted as saying in the documentary that the company's rules are based on revenue. "If the content is indeed violating it will go," Allan said.
Facebook, however, said it will remove Robinson's page if he repeatedly violated the site's community standards.Britain First's Facebook page was eventually banned in March 2018.
"It's clear that some of what is shown in the programme does not reflect Facebook's policies or values, and falls short of the high standards we expect.
"We take these mistakes in some of our training processes and enforcement incredibly seriously and are grateful to the journalists who brought them to our attention," Allan said.
The documentary also showed that Facebook moderators have turned blind eye to under-age accounts.
"Moderators are told they can only take action to close down the account of a child who clearly looks 10-years-old if the child actually admits in posts they are under-aged," The Telegraph reported, citing the documentary.
"We have to have an admission that the person is under-age. If not, we just pretend that we are blind and we don't know what underage looks like," a trainer told the undercover reporter.
Facebook is also facing the flak for launching Messenger Kids that encourages children under age 13 to join social media. British Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt in December warned the social media giant to stay away from his children.
Early this year, more than 100 child health experts have urged Facebook to withdraw the app.
Despite call for withdrawal by experts, Facebook has decided to expand the reach of Messenger Kids by introducing the video calling and messaging app designed for children under 13 to families in Canada and Peru.
Facebook said it will also introduce Spanish and French versions of the app.
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Mumbai Metro lines 9 and 2B open for commuters
Mumbai (PTI): Commercial operations on the first phases of Mumbai Metro corridors 9 and 2B began on Wednesday morning, a day after Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis inaugurated the mass-transit routes, officials said.
While the Metro 9 marks the first direct connectivity between a suburb in Mumbai and a part of Thane city in the metropolitan region, the Line 2B will provide the first metro connectivity on the Harbour Line in Mumbai.
The 5.6-km elevated Phase 1 stretch of Metro Line 9 comprises four stations -- Dahisar East, Pandurangwadi, Miragaon and Kashigaon. The 5.53-km Phase 1 of Metro Line 2B has five stations, including Deshbhakt N G Acharya Udyan (Diamond Garden), Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Chowk, Deonar, Mankhurd and Maharashtra Nagar–Mandale.
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According to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), Line 9 is expected to cut travel time between Mira-Bhayandar in Thane district and Mumbai to around 30 minutes from the current one to two hours. Built at Rs 6,607 crore, it will eventually provide seamless connectivity to south Mumbai through interlinking with other lines.
With the addition of the two new lines, Mumbai’s operational Metro network has expanded to six corridors, including Line 1 (Ghatkopar-Andheri-Versova), Line 2A (Andheri West-Dahisar East), Line 7 (Dahisar East-Andheri East) and the underground Line 3 (Colaba-Bandra Kurla Complex-SEEPZ).
As per MMRDA, the revised timetable for Line 2A and Line 7 came into effect on Wednesday, aimed at improving frequency, predictability and overall commuter experience.
It said that with the inauguration of Line 9, Metro Line 2A will now operate as a standalone corridor between Andheri West and Dahisar East, with services from 5.50 am till around 11 pm and a peak frequency of about six minutes.
The integrated Line 7-9 corridor (Gundavali to Kashigaon), spanning 19.79 km, will operate from 5.50 am to 11 pm, with a peak frequency of under six minutes and 276 services on weekdays.
Metro Line 2B (Phase 1) services commenced at 6 am and will run till around 10.30 pm at intervals of approximately nine-and-a-half minutes, operating 209 services daily, according to officials.
MMRDA said the integration of Line 7 with Line 9 enables direct connectivity from Andheri East to Mira-Bhayandar, while Lines 2A and 7 will function as separate corridors.
A seamless interchange facility at Dahisar station will allow passengers to switch between Lines 2A and 7 without exiting the “paid” (ticketed) area.
