Study: Hate speech and violent threats against politicians surged after Meta relaxed moderation rules
By
WIRED
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Summary
A study using AI analysis found that racist and hateful comments targeting politicians on Facebook tripled after Meta relaxed its content moderation policies. Violent threats quadrupled (from 1,800 to 7,600), hate speech quadrupled (from 6,900 to 30,000), and bullying/harassment doubled (from 15,700 to 39,900) in the six months following the policy changes.
Key quotes
· 3 pulledComments that violated Meta's policies around violent threats quadrupled, from 1,800 in the six months before the changes to 7,600 in the six months after.
Hate speech comments also quadrupled, from 6,900 to 30,000.
Comments that broke Meta's rules on bullying and harassment doubled, from 15,700 to 39,900.
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