ＦＢ、暴力的コンテンツ削除　オリジナルなニュースを重視へ

【サンフランシスコＡＦＰ＝時事】交流サイト（SNS）最大手の米フェイスブックは6月30日、「米国の暴力的な反政府ネットワーク」関連のコンテンツを削除したとともに、今後はオリジナルなニュースを優先的に扱うと同社のブログで発表した。（写真はフェイスブックのロゴ）
　最近米国で相次いでいるデモに「ブーガルー」という組織化されていない運動のメンバーが武器を持って現れ、メンバーとみられる男が襲撃事件を起こしたとして逮捕・起訴されたことで、この運動は急に注目を集めた。今回フェイスブックがコンテンツを削除したネットワークは「ブーガルー」という単語を使ってはいたが暴力を強く指向しており、ブーガルー運動とは別のものだという。
　ブーガルーの信奉者にはネオナチや白人至上主義グループを中心に、リバタリアンやアナキストもいる。
　同社は、フェイスブックの２２０アカウントとインスタグラムの９５アカウント、さらに２８ページと「現在このネットワークを構成している」１０６グループを削除したと発表。さらに、別の４００以上のグループと、同様のコンテンツが投稿されていた１００ページ以上も削除したことも明らかにした。
　同社がブーガルー運動に最初に気付いたのは２０１２年だったが、詳しい監視を始めたのは２０１９年になってからだという。

■オリジナルなニュースを優先的に
　フェイスブックは６月３０日、ユーザーのニュースフィードに表示される記事について、スパムや記事の内容を実際よりも魅力的に見せてユーザーを誘導する「クリックベイト」と呼ばれる見出し、内容が誇大な記事にユーザーが煩わされないようにするため、オリジナルなニュース記事を優先的に扱うと発表した。
　さらに同社は、執筆者が確認できない記事や、提供元がスタッフの情報をはっきりと公開していない記事の優先度を下げることも明らかにした。記事の出どころを確かめやすいように、記事の執筆者や提供元のスタッフの情報をチェックしていくという。
　同社のグローバルニュースパートナーシップ担当バイスプレジデントのキャンベル・ブラウン氏と、プロダクトマネジャーのジョン・レビン氏はブログで、これらの情報を提供していない提供元は読者の信頼がなく、クリックベイトなどを含むコンテンツを作ることが多いのが分かったとしている。
　米国で反人種差別などのデモが相次いでいる中、ドナルド・トランプ大統領が発信するものも含め人種差別的で扇動的なコンテンツの抑制にもっと積極的に取り組むよう同社に求める声が高まる中、フェイスブックへの広告出稿を停止する動きが勢いを増している。
　英国・オランダ系の食品・日用品大手ユニリーバや米コーヒーチェーン大手スターバックス、米ジーンズブランドのリーバイス、米飲料大手コカ・コーラなど有名ブランドを含む約２００社がフェイスブックへの広告出稿を停止した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2020/07/01-13:05）

Facebook disrupted a violent US-based anti-government network and vowed to give original news priority as it remained under fire for what it takes down and lets stay.
The moves come as Facebook faces an advertiser boycott that has morphed into a global digital activist campaign aimed at curbing hateful and toxic content on the social media platform.
The disrupted network was loosely affiliated with the Boogaloo movement, whose followers have appeared at recent protests while heavily armed, the Silicon Valley-based company said Tuesday.
The group is distinct from the broader Boogaloo movement in that it actively seeks to commit violence, Facebook said in a blog post.
This is the latest step in our commitment to ban people who proclaim a violent mission from using our platform, Facebook said.
The social network reported that it removed 220 Facebook accounts and another 95 Instagram accounts, along with 28 pages and 106 groups that currently comprise the network.
Facebook added that it also took down more than 400 other groups and more than 100 other pages where similar content was posted.
Officials have identified violent adherents to the movement as those responsible for several attacks over the past few months, Facebook said.
The Boogaloo movement is not organized, and the ideology shares followers with some neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups, as well as with libertarians and anarchists.
Facebook said it first spotted initial elements of the movement in 2012 but has only been closely following it since 2019.
We expect to see adversarial behavior from this network including people trying to return to using our platform and adopting new terminology, Facebook said.
Few had heard of the Boogaloo movement before this year. But recently, the Justice Department charged one of its followers, California Air Force Sergeant Steven Carrillo, with the drive-by killing of an Oakland police officer during May 29 Black Lives Matter protests.
Carillo is accused of killing another policeman eight days later in an ambush after his van was discovered -- laden with weapons and bomb-making materials -- near Santa Cruz.
The killings came after the May 30 arrest in Las Vegas of three self-styled Boogaloo bois who had assembled weapons and Molotov cocktails with the aim of sparking violence during a Black Lives Matter protest.
The Boogaloo movement, which has adopted Hawaiian shirts as a uniform, promotes a coming civil war and/or collapse of society, according to a Nevada federal prosecutor involved in a criminal case against alleged members.
- Credible News -
Facebook also vowed to give priority to original news reporting as part of an effort to divert attention from spam, clickbait and specious articles.
Additionally, the social media giant said it will downplay news stories that lack bylines that can be verified or from publishers that don't clearly share information about their staff.
We've found that publishers who do not include this information often lack credibility to readers and produce content with clickbait or ad farms, all content people tell us they don?t want to see on Facebook, Campbell Brown, Facebook's vice president for global news partnerships, and product manager Jon Levin said in a blog post.
An unprecedented ad boycott has been joined by major brands like Unilever, Starbucks, Levis and Coca-Cola, with nearly 200 firms pausing advertising on the social network, wiping out billions in Facebook's market value.
The boycott gained momentum amid the latest civil unrest as activists pressed Facebook to be more aggressive about curbing racist and inflammatory content, including from President Donald Trump.
Facebook appeared to respond late last week by announcing it would ban a wider category of hateful content in ads.
Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said Facebook also would add tags to posts that are newsworthy but violate platform rules -- following the lead of Twitter, which has used such labels on tweets from Trump.
The changes announced Tuesday are aimed at stories displayed in the Facebook users' News Feed.
Brown and Levin reasoned that original reporting by new outlets is important journalism that takes time and expertise, and we want to ensure that it?s prioritized on Facebook.
Facebook will start with English language news and subsequently expand to include other languages.
The platform will also check articles for bylines or staff pages at publisher websites to help determine who is behind stories.