Facebook removed double the amount of hate speech-filled posts its Instagram service during the last quarter compared to the one before, the social networking company reported Thursday.
Between the months of July and September, a total of 6.5 million pieces of content posted to Instagram considered to include hate speech were pulled from the platform, Facebook said in a report.
The millions of pieces of hateful content yanked from Instagram during the three-month span is more than twice the 3.2 million pieces that were removed during the preceding quarter, Facebook said.
Facebook attributed recent investments in artificial intelligence, or AI, as playing a big role in flagging most of that content before it could be reported by users, according to the company.
Around 95% of the hate speech removed during the last quarter was proactively identified, up from roughly 85% during the one before, said Guy Rosen, Facebook’s vice president of integrity.
More than 22 million pieces of hate speech were pulled from Facebook’s namesake social network during the latest quarter, meanwhile, Mr. Rosen said in a news release touting the report.
“We’ll continue improving our technology and enforcement efforts to remove harmful content from our platform and keep people safe while using our apps,” Mr. Rosen said in a statement.
Facebook defines hate speech as “anything that directly attacks people based on protected characteristics, including race, ethnicity, national origin, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, sex, gender, gender identity or serious disability or disease.”
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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