Facebook knows its social network can spread bullying messages but doesn’t stop all of them

The vile messages that were slung at me after a story I wrote that unleashed a troll army across several Facebook-owned platforms raises a serious issue.

Mercifully, Facebook agrees I shouldn’t be called an “ugly biatch”.

It’s small solace, though, because the social network has no problem publishing claims I am an “ugly bitch,” “loser,” “shit-for-brains,” “scrag,” “trash,” “evil,” “hit by a big Mack,” “hit by the bus” and, in a peculiar insult, a “goon face”.

Even the more menacing comment, “another one for the gallows,” wasn’t a problem for the world’s largest social network which, when I reported the reference as “harassment,” told me it would not be removed.

Referring to one’s execution by hanging apparently doesn’t meet Facebook’s standards for “degrading or shaming someone”.

The vile messages were slung at me after a story I wrote about social media misinformation; an article that unleashed a troll army across several Facebook-owned platforms.

Of 58 Facebook comments I reported as hateful and haranguing, the company removed less than a third — just 15 of them — leaving me to deal with lingering public admonishment.

And these were only the comments made in public. Private messages targeting me across Messenger, Instagram, and Facebook Pages were more vicious. The senders continued even after being blocked or banned; their spite arriving stripped of avatars.

Facebook is well aware its social network has the potential to spread harmful, bullying messages. It has introduced a series of customisable filters, comment controls, and ways to block other users.

But all of these tools rely on the victim finding them, setting them up, or otherwise taking action themselves. There’s no proactive filtering by Facebook and no way to remove bullying messages on the profiles of others, except the report-and-hope approach.

It’s also not clear whether these pleas for help are reviewed by human or computer moderators, though the lack of action seems to implicate the latter.

And while an isolated case of name-calling might only sting, a tsunami of targeted hate washing across social media could crush a vulnerable person. There is a responsibility to stop and prevent harm that’s currently missing from social media.

Perhaps it’s not just me. Perhaps we’re all “losers” here.

Originally published as Facebook knows its social network can spread bullying messages but doesn’t stop all of them