Facebook and Instagram to study racial bias against African Americans, Hispanics on their platforms – Detroit Free Press

Carolyn Wysinger is a teacher and activist who says Facebook censors her from discussing racism online, sometimes locking her out of her account. USA TODAY

Acknowledging complaints over censorship and harassment, Facebook is creating teams to examine and address racial bias on its platform and on Instagram.

The teams will focus onthe experience of Black, Hispanic and other minority users, the company said Tuesday.

Scrutiny of the company has intensified since nationwide protests over the death of George Floyd brought the issue of racial justice to the forefront.

Hundreds of brands are boycotting Facebook and Instagram this month, giving voice to criticism that these platforms stifleBlack users while failing to shield Black users from racially motivated hate speech and threats.

The racial justice movement is a moment of real significance for our company. Any bias in our systems and policies runs counter to providing a platform for everyone to express themselves, Vishal Shah, Instagrams vice president of product, said in a statement.

Facebook while Black: Black users call for Facebook to stop censorship, harassment

Facebook diversity report: Efforts still failing Black and Hispanic employees, especially women

An internal civil rights audit of Facebooks policies and practices released earlier this month highlighted the companys failure to rein in racism and toxic speech.

The prioritization of free expression over all other values, such as equality and non-discrimination, is deeply troubling, civil rights activist Laura Murphy wrote in the audit, which began in 2018 at the urging of civil rights organizations and some members of Congress.

In probing the challenges underrepresented groups face, Instagram said a dedicated team would review how it enforces harassment policies and how it evaluates algorithms for potential bias. The team will also work on new features to promote equity on Instagram, such as supporting minority owned small businesses, the company said.

The Instagram app logo is displayed on an iPhone on August 3, 2016 in London, England.(Photo: Carl Court, Getty Images)

Facebook will also work on includingthe perspectives of Black and other marginalized users in itsproducts, the company said.

Facebook said it'sconsulting with civil rights groups on how to responsibly collect and study sensitive data on the race of its users.

When deciding what speech or behavior to allow on its platforms, Facebook relies on a list of rules called "Community Standards." Facebook defines hate speech as an attack against a "protected characteristic," such as race, gender, sexuality or religion. And each individual or group is treated equally, even if they do not face oppression or marginalization.

Civil rights groups trace these policies to the people in a position toshape them. Despite pledges to close the racial gap, Facebook still struggles to hire, promote and retain Black employees and has few Black executives in the C-suite.About 4% of the company'scurrent workforce is Black and 6.3% is Hispanic while3.4% of senior leaders are Black and 4.3% are Hispanic.

USA TODAY coverage: Race and equity in Silicon Valley

Black users say they have no choice but to stick with these platforms. Movements on social media have helped put the deaths of Black Americans by police officers on the public agenda, along with racial disparities in employment, health and other key areas, they say.

To elude bans when talking about racism, Black users say they resort to using a white avatar, digital slang such as "wypipo" or "huite" or a cloud emoji as phonetic or visual stand-ins for white people. They operate under aliases and maintain backup accounts to avoid losing content and access to their community. And they've developed a buddy system to alert friends and followers when someone has been sent to Facebook jail, sharing the news of the suspension and the posts that put them there.

Harassment on Facebook and Instagram has gotten worse as nationwide protests following Floyds death in police custody draw renewed attention to historic racial inequities, Black users say.

Private groups discussing racial justice and police brutality report being swarmed by organized networks of white supremacists, who use racial slurs and tell them to go back to Africa.

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Facebook and Instagram to study racial bias against African Americans, Hispanics on their platforms - Detroit Free Press