Facebook seeks partners to understand platform abuse in high-risk areas

In May 2018 Facebook announced it would partner with organisations in places such as Myanmar and South Sudan in order to develop more "context-specific" knowledge about how its platform is being abused to create real risks of harm and violence. In Myanmar, where telephone companies allowed Facebook to offer free access, the number of users rose in tandem with the amount of online hate speech, most of it directed against the country's Muslim minority. Facebook wound up withdrawing its Free Basics service there. In India and Malaysia, the company took out ads to warn against misinformation. In Kenya, reports say that Cambridge Analytica used Facebook data to influence the 2017 presidential election. Facebook said it needed to shift focus from building "cool, new tools" to mitigating risks. 

https://www.devex.com/news/facebook-eyes-new-partnerships-to-better-understand-high-risk-areas-92721

tags: Facebook, online abuse, hate speech, Kenya, religion, Muslims, Myanmar, India, Malaysia, fake news
Writer: Michael Igoe
Publication: Devex