FACEBOOK will hire 3 000 more people over the next year to speed up the removal of videos showing murder, suicide and other violent acts.
This is its most dramatic move yet to combat the biggest threat to its valuable public image.
The hiring spree, announced by chief executive Mark Zuckerberg this week, comes after users were shocked by two video posts in April showing killings in Thailand and the United States.
The move is an acknowledgement by Facebook that it needs more than its recent focus on automated software to identify and remove such material.
Artificial intelligence techniques would take “a period of years to really reach the quality level that we want,” Zuckerberg told investors.
The problem has become more pressing since the introduction last year of Facebook Live, a service that allows any of Facebook’s 1,9 billion monthly users to broadcast videos, which have been marred by some violent scenes.
– REUTERS