Facebook is unwittingly auto-generating content for terror-linked groups that its artificial intelligence systems do not recognize as extremist, according to a complaint made public on Thursday.
The National Whistleblowers Center in Washington carried out a five-month study of the pages of 3,000 members who liked or connected to organizations proscribed as terrorist by the US government.
Researchers found that the Islamic State group and al-Qaeda were “openly” active on the social network.
More worryingly, the Facebook’s own software was automatically creating “celebration” and “memories” videos for extremist pages that had amassed sufficient views or “likes.”
The Whistleblower’s Center said it filed a complaint with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on behalf of a source that preferred to remain anonymous.
“Facebook’s efforts to stamp out terror content have been weak and ineffectual,” read an executive summary of the 48-page document shared by the center.
“Of even greater concern, Facebook itself has been creating and promoting terror content with its auto-generate technology.”
https://www.securityweek.com/whistleblower-says-facebook-generating-terror-content
