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Facebook Ignored 455 Complaints About Militia Page Urging Weapons at Kenosha Protest (buzzfeednews.com) 432

BuzzFeed News reports: In a companywide meeting on Thursday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that a militia page advocating for followers to bring weapons to an upcoming protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, remained on the platform because of "an operational mistake." The page and an associated event inspired widespread criticism of the company after a 17-year-old suspect allegedly shot and killed two protesters Tuesday night.

The event associated with the Kenosha Guard page, however, was flagged to Facebook at least 455 times after its creation, according to an internal report viewed by BuzzFeed News, and had been cleared by four moderators, all of whom deemed it "non-violating." The page and event were eventually removed from the platform on Wednesday — several hours after the shooting.

"To put that number into perspective, it made up 66% of all event reports that day," one Facebook worker wrote in the internal "Violence and Incitement Working Group" to illustrate the number of complaints the company had received about the event... The internal report seen by BuzzFeed News reveals the extent to which concerned Facebook users went to warn the company of a group calling for public violence, and how the company failed to act.

After BuzzFeed news published its story about Facebook's internal report, Mark Zuckerberg made the same comments in a public forum, reports CNN: The page clearly violated Facebook's rules against violent militias, Zuckerberg acknowledged in a video posted Friday to his Facebook profile, and that "a bunch of people" had even reported the page prior to the killing of two protesters, Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber.

Just last week, Facebook announced it would crack down on militia organizations that advocated for violence or spoke about the potential for violence. But in its first week of implementation, the policy's lack of enforcement led to the spread of violent messages on the platform directly linked to the events in Kenosha, where protests erupted after the police shooting of Jacob Blake.

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Facebook Ignored 455 Complaints About Militia Page Urging Weapons at Kenosha Protest

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  • by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 30, 2020 @10:37AM (#60455094)

    More than 450, That's for sure

    • by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 30, 2020 @10:48AM (#60455116)

      Content that is sensational, controversial and/or inflammatory attracts more viewers, and that makes more money for Facebook. It is their business model and they will never change it.

      2003 - 2018: 15 years of the Mark Zuckerberg Apology Tour

      November 2003
      After creating Facemash, a Harvard 'hot-or-not' site.
      “This is not how I meant for things to go and I apologize for any harm done as a result of my neglect.”

      September 2006
      After introducing News Feed, which exposed updates to friends in one central place.
      “We really messed this one up. ... We did a bad job of explaining what the new features were and an even worse job of giving you control of them.”

      December 2007
      After launching Beacon, which opted-in everyone to sharing with advertisers what they were doing in outside websites and apps.
      “We simply did a bad job with this release, and I apologize for it. People need to be able to explicitly choose what they share.”

      February 2009
      After unveiling new terms of service that angered users.
      “Over the past couple of days, we received a lot of questions and comments. Based on this feedback, we have decided to return to our previous terms of use while we resolve the issues.”

      May 2010
      After reporters found a privacy loophole allowing advertisers to access user identification.
      “Sometimes we move too fast. We will add privacy controls that are much simpler to use. We will also give you an easy way to turn off all third-party services.”

      November 2011
      After Facebook reached a consent decree with the Federal Trade Commission for deceiving consumers about privacy.
      “I’m the first to admit that we’ve made a bunch of mistakes. Facebook has always been committed to being transparent about the information you have stored with us — and we have led the internet in building tools to give people the ability to see and control what they share.”

      July 2014
      After an academic paper exposed that Facebook conducted psychological tests on nearly 700,000 users without their knowledge. (Apology by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg)
      “It was poorly communicated. And for that communication we apologize. We never meant to upset you.”

      December 2016
      After criticism of the role of Facebook in spreading fake news about political candidates.
      “I think of Facebook as a technology company, but I recognize we have a greater responsibility than just building technology that information flows through. Today we’re making it easier to report hoaxes.”

      April 2017
      After a Cleveland man posted a video of himself killing 74-year-old Robert Godwin.
      “Our hearts go out to the family and friends of Robert Godwin Sr., and we have a lot of work — and we will keep doing all we can to prevent tragedies like this from happening.”

      September 2017
      While revealing a nine-step plan to stop nations from using Facebook to interfere in one another’s elections, noting that the amount of “problematic content” found so far is “relatively small.”
      “I care deeply about the democratic process and protecting its integrity. It is a new challenge for internet communities to deal with nation states attempting to subvert elections. But if that’s what we must do, we are committed to rising to the occasion.”

      September 2017
      After continued criticism about the role of Facebook in Russian manipulation of the 2016 election.
      “For the ways my work has been used to divide rather than to bring us together, I ask for forgiveness and I will work to do better. ”

      January 2018
      Announcing his personal challenge for the year is to fix Facebook.
      “ We won’t prevent all mistakes or abuse, but we currently make too many errors enforcing our policies and preventing misuse of our tools. This will be a serious year of self-improvement and I’m

    • by joltinjoe0125 ( 823143 ) on Sunday August 30, 2020 @10:50AM (#60455120)
      If we use molotovs to burn down a business owned by immigrants of non-Western-European descent, we are a peaceful protestor. If we are armed and guarding the property of the mayor or city council, we are security. If we are armed and protect a private business, we are militia. This was never about race. It was always about economics.
      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        Yes it is the one sided aspect of the coverage is a joke.
      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

        Why is it okay to use violence to prevent property damage, but not use property damage to prevent violence?

        • by sjames ( 1099 )

          Because for the most part, the people whose property is being damaged are NOT the people who were doing violence. In some cases they are the very people the violence is too frequently done against, making them double victimized.

          For the ones doing the damage, apparently Black Lives Matter but black livelihoods don't.

        • Not commenting on the Rittenhouse kid, but a business owner shooting an arsonist to prevent the destruction of his livelihood would be rationally and morally more justified than a protester setting fire to unrelated businesses as a means to prevent police violence.

    • by fred911 ( 83970 ) on Sunday August 30, 2020 @12:25PM (#60455458) Journal

      Besides the fact that Wisconsin is an open carry state. What part of organizing a legally entitled individuals to take their weapons is necessarily inciting violence. Had property owners done the same with the protests that spawned looting, there would be significantly less loss of property.

      Oh let's not forget that the ''17 year old suspect'' wasn't legally carrying the weapon in the first place. He broke the law before he killed people. Law abiding citizens that are armed tend to create very safe environments.

  • There's no reason Facebook should restrict efforts to protect life and property, particularly after serving as the organizing nexus for riots.
  • by Stoutlimb ( 143245 ) on Sunday August 30, 2020 @11:03PM (#60457228)

    "allegedly shot and killed two protesters"

    Argh. Rioters. Using glocks and molotovs means it's a riot. Rioters. Say it after me, news media. Rioters.

  • by Chas ( 5144 ) on Monday August 31, 2020 @08:51AM (#60458240) Homepage Journal

    Antifa uses FB to coordinate their riots as well.

    Yet they're given a complete pass.

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