Facebook has faced a flurry of angry-face reaction buttons in recent weeks, after the uploading of a video of a murder in Cleveland made international headlines and the genuine killing of a human infant remained live on the platform for more than 24 hours. In response to criticism that Facebook is more vigilant about preventing the use of nicknames or glimpses of nipple than addressing real-life atrocities of human violence on the social networking site, Facebook CEO and definitely-not-a-presidential-candidate Mark Zuckerberg posted a lengthy status Wednesday morning vowing to add 3,000 more content moderators to prevent the streaming of murders, suicides, and other violent acts.
"Over the last few weeks, we've seen people hurting themselves and others on Facebook — either live or in video posted later. It's heartbreaking, and I've been reflecting on how we can do better for our community,” Zuckerberg wrote. “Over the next year, we'll be adding 3,000 people to our community operations team around the world — on top of the 4,500 we have today — to review the millions of reports we get every week, and improve the process for doing it quickly.”
For comparison purposes, Facebook Live left the baby-killing video up for 24 hours, whereas YouTube removed a duplicate video within 15 minutes of being notified. On Monday, Rev. Jesse Jackson and a number of other Chicago political notables called for a 30-day moratorium on Facebook Live video streaming until the platform gets a better handle on preventing the live-streaming of violence.
“Keeping people safe is our top priority," Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg said in a statement to CNET. "We won't stop until we get it right.” Facebook is also promising to add more flagging and reporting tools, and methods for users to notify law enforcement of violent videos.
Facebook’s efforts to manage its reputation also include a slew of public events at the Menlo Park headquarters, including a chili cook-off and car show next Saturday, May 13 and a Facebook County Fair on Saturday, August 28 featuring amusement park rides, live bands, and a number of food trucks.
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