"Malkia Cyril, a Black Lives Matter activist in Oakland, Calif., who is also the executive director for the Center for Media Justice, was among a coalition of more than 70 civil rights groups that pressured Facebook in 2017 to fix its “racially-biased” content moderation system. Among the changes the coalition sought was an appeals process for posts that are taken down.
“At the time they told us they could not do it, they would not do it, and actually stopped engaging at that point,” Cyril said. “They told us they would get back to us when they had something new to say.”
Cyril said that Facebook’s actions Tuesday, while well-intentioned, do not go far enough in terms of addressing the white supremacist groups allowed on the platform.
“This is just a drop in the bucket,” she said. “What’s needed now is an independent audit to ensure that the basic civil rights of users are protected, especially vulnerable users being targeted on the street by hate that’s being fomented online.”"
- Date Published:04/24/2018
- Original Publication:The Washington Post