By Phil Taylor, New Zealand and Weekend Herald senior writer
AUCKLAND (New Zealand Herald/Pacific Media Watch): Facebook has broken its silence over the Christchurch terrorist attacks, outlining its plans to rein in the sort of videos posted by the alleged shooter and to clamp down on hate speech.
In a letter provided exclusively to the Weekend Herald, the social media giant's No 2, chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg, has revealed it will restrict those who can use Facebook Live and build better technology to quickly identify versions of violent videos and images and prevent them being shared.
It will also ban a range of extremist groups from its platforms.
FULL WEEKEND HERALD REPORT
The shooter livestreamed video of the attacks in which 50 people died and dozens more were injured as they prayed in two Christchurch mosques on March 15.
Sandberg, who is the second-ranking executive behind Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg, said it had found and removed 900 edited versions of the 17-minute video.
"We are exploring restrictions on who can go Live depending on factors such as prior Community Standard violations," Sandberg said.
Investing in technology research
"We are also investing in research to build better technology to quickly identify edited versions of violent videos and images and prevent people from re-sharing these versions.
"We are also using our existing artificial intelligence tools to identify and remove a range of hate groups in Australia and New Zealand, including the Lads Society, the United Patriots Front, the Antipodean Resistance, and National Front New Zealand.
"And this week we announced that we have strengthened our policies by banning praise, support and representation of white nationalism and separatism on Facebook and Instagram."
Facebook is strengthening steps to remove hate speech from its platforms.
"We are committed to reviewing what happened and have been working closely with the New Zealand Police to support their response."
Read the full Weekend Herald report here
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