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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Gurugram CA held for slitting pregnant wife's throat with scissors
Jhajjar (PTI): A chartered accountant has been arrested for allegedly killing his pregnant wife by slitting her throat with a pair of scissors and trying to pass it off as a robbery attempt, police said on Wednesday.
According to police, Anshul Dhawan (31) got married to Mehak (27) in September last year. Both worked in Gurugram.
Police received a call on Sunday night reporting that some unidentified people tried to rob Anshul, took his car and kidnapped his wife, SHO Badli, Inspector Suresh said.
When police reached the spot, they found the woman's body near a dry canal with injury marks on her neck, he said.
Suspecting inconsistencies in Anshul's version of events, police took him into custody for interrogation. He confessed that he had killed Mehak with a pair of scissors, wearing gloves, over suspicions about her character, SHO said.
"During his questioning, it came to light that he had pre-planned the murder. His wife worked in a private bank in Gurugram. He had doubts that she talked to her friends, and he did not like it," SHO added. Following the confession, Anshul was arrested on Monday.
Further investigation into the matter is underway, police said.
Mehak's sister, Shruti, told the reporters that the family had doubts that Anshul was involved in the murder. She said, "We want justice; the killer should be hanged. He did not even think that his wife was two months pregnant."
She said on February 15, Anshul came to their house and stayed only for ten minutes and left with Mehal for Gurugram.
Shruti alleged that Anshul had pre-planned the murder.
