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RETAIL EXCELLENCE IRELAND has suspended its partnership with Facebook after a documentary that aired last night claimed thousands of reported posts remained unmoderated and on the site.
A reporter – who went undercover at Facebook offices in the UK and Dublin for a Channel 4 Dispatches investigation – found that violent videos, including assaults on children and images of self harm, all remained on Facebook after being reported by users and reviewed by moderators.
This violated Facebook’s guidelines and in a blog post, the company acknowledged that some of the contents of the programme fell short of “the high standards we expect”.
Speaking to RTÉ Facebook’s public policy manager Siobhan Cummiskey said, “The allegation that we leave up this content to make money is absolutely untrue, and actually the opposite is true.
Nobody wants to see this type of content, our advertisers don’t want to see it. You don’t want to see it … that’s why we’re working very hard to bring our policies and our operation to a place where people feel confident.
“We do not leave up hate speech on our platform, we remove hate speech when it is reported to us and we also take proactive measures to remove hate speech from our platform. We do not tolerate hate speech on our platform.
She added, “We have signed up to a code of conduct with the European Commission since 2016, they monitor our ability to comply with the Code of Conduct and we have been outperforming their expectations in removing that content.
“We are working very hard to get this right, we’re working very hard to make sure our policies are in the right place. We don’t create them in a vacuum.”
‘Wrong for us to continue’
Retail Excellence had partnered with Facebook to provide training to retailers to enhance their digital strategies through their platform.
The next Retail Excellence – Facebook training course was scheduled to take place next week. Facebook were also expected to address delegates at Retail Excellence eCommerce Conference on 19 September.
However CEO of Retail Excellence Lorraine Higgins said based on the revelations from the documentary, the company has “decided to suspend our partnership with Facebook until further notice”.
As a representative body which promotes standards of excellence amongst retailers it would be wrong for us to continue our partnership where they have fallen short.
“On that basis, we will not be working with Facebook until we are satisfied their policies have been overhauled regarding the posting of violent and abusive content for commercial gain.”
Facebook bosses are expected to be called before an Oireachtas Committee to answer questions on the controversy.
Green Party Leader Eamon Ryan said, “The revelations on Channel 4 last night about the monitoring and management of harmful content on the Facebook platform raises serious questions about the company’s business model.
In no other walk of life would you be allowed to profit from providing a platform for hate speech or the other harmful material which were seen to be tolerated in this excellent piece of undercover reporting.
He said that as the home of the European headquarters of most of these social media companies “Ireland has a special responsibility to help set the right regulatory standards”.
He also added that the Data Protection Commissioner needs to take a much more direct role in monitoring what the company is doing on a day to day basis.
Meanwhile Fianna Fáil’s Timmy Dooley said the “only way” to ensure that Facebook removes offensive material from the website is by fining them for not doing so.
The party’s communications spokesperson said he believes an Irish digital safety commissioner should have the power to sanction and fine Facebook if it ignored policies put in place here.
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Deleted my fb account around 6 yr ago. Would never go back on it. If you want me simply ring or text. Cant understand people who put their whole lives online on fb.
@shellakybooky: because humans get insecure and seek out companionship and interactions…SM these days has been wired into people brains via silly sounds via alerts flashing lights etc…..to brake this link is not easy but can be done.
@shellakybooky: The old fashioned media hit out at the new form of media as it is hurting their profits. Politicians hit out at facebook because they are not able to have their relationships and control that they had with our newspapers and the newspaper owners that they have currently.
We can expect a lot more attacks of this type on Facebook over the years as facebook allows people to communicate en-mass and destabilizes the status quo of politicians being in close relationships with those in the media company ownership.
I would trust facebook a hell of a lot more then I would trust our national newspapers or any one in RTE.
@brian boru: I understand what you are saying, probably agree with most of it. BUT it needs to be regulated you can’t have Facebook regulating themselves and then moaning when they make an almighty mess of it.
@brian boru: Naive if you trust Facebook. No social media can be trusted & papers never refuse ink
@PaddyOverABarrel:
Classic……use social media to brag that you don’t use social media!…..
@shellakybooky: same here
@Ger Healy: …news alert – this is not a social media site! lmao
@PaddyOverABarrel: there’s no companionship on Facebook though. It’s anti social media.
@UK Hurling Bloke:
Social Media is not just Facebook or Instagram.
I also deleted my Facebook account a few months ago and don’t miss it at all.
It always puzzled me when people would add you as a friend on fb and then walk past you In the street.
No way I would ever go back
@Alex smith: I remember some ex workmate friended me on facebook. When I started talking to him I got back 2 – 3 word sentences. I mean it was this numpty that friended me and not the other way round ffs. Facebook friends are NOT friends!
@Alex smith: We need less friends and more friendship.
Facebook is a prime example of a company that grew too fast. Normal companies grow steadily for years and the owners and staff have a good handle on it. Everyone sings from the same hymn sheet, and the left hand knows what the right hand is doing.
Companies as large as FB and Google are simply too big, and don’t have the standards in place to begin with. They have to retrospectively introduce policy and standards that most other companies, which developed slowly but surely, have in their DNA.
Not to take way from their incredible success to date and revolutionary product, but I wont be letting my kids near it.
@niall: like A.I.B or …..
@Paul Powell: AIB has 10.5K employees and is 60 years old at this point. .FB has 25K directly employed and many, many more contractors and is barely a decade old. So yeah, grew too fast.
@niall: Yeap, they even said dozens of times we grew to fast too keep up.
@niall: Facebook doesn’t make anything of any note. It’s addicted to advertising revenue which will lead it to ending badly I predict.
He’s looking more and more like data from Star Trek .
@Murph11: he is certainly the archetypal Nerd looking at the photo.
This may be perceived as toxic (6.6/10) apparently, so I’d steer well clear of him
Yet someone burning or tearing up a fictional book such as the Bible or Quran will be immediately banned. Go figure…
@Good Early: Eh????
@Margate: just this week a Pakistani ex-muslim posted a video of himself burning the Qur’an on an Atheist page. It was taken down within the hour.
Got real friends, why would I need fake FB ones?
@Graham: Cos unlike you- the ‘ real thing’, many people act fake anyway in their pretend, little, false worlds..
Are Retail Excellence a newsworthy organisation or is this just an opportunistic PR stunt?
@alphanautica: especially with Lorraine Higgins (failed politician) as their CEO….
@alphanautica: They do represent some 2,000 businesses across Ireland.
@alphanautica: there would be a very ethical ethos there now under the current management. All credit to them for taking this step, but where are all the other organisations that should be doing the same?
@John Mulligan: true, I expect Retail Excellence should release a blacklist of service providers evaluated using the same criteria they have challenged Facebook with.
Will rogue retailers who continue to use Facebook for marketing purposes be released from their annual subscription to Retail Excellence and have their membership and representation cancelled?
Ethics demand it. Retail Excellence should forego any income from such rogues.
@alphanautica: I doubt any organisation has the resources to do something like that. What they did was essentially a statement disassociating themselves from fb’s bad practices. A good step that should be emulated by other groups.
So we will continue to be able to see Paddy and John Paul beat two shades of poo of each other in bare-Knuckle Fights or this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWTIf-_SnnA
Surely anyone who sees a serious crime like child abuse has a duty to report it, whether they are an employee or contractor of FB or not?
If the report is made to the Corporate Entity the duty continues, it does not diminish, to the persons within FB and upto the top.
The Gardai or other Police force should be hammering on FB’s door with warrants and axes to get the IP addresses and locations.
Any lawyers or Zuckerbergs that obstruct or stand in their way should be thrown in the back of the wagon, and left there until the more important matter is taken care of by the authorities, politicians have a duty to ensure this happens.
The state should recoup the costs from the “Social Network” and slap punative and exemplary fines on them until they stop making ad money from misery.
Good idea. Wish others would use their brain and do the same.
Pity the Journal wouldn’t follow suit.
Fair play Retail Excellence, hopefully more will follow then FB will finally get its act together.
The man looks like ‘Data’ from Star Trek..
I find FB great for keeping in touch with extended family and also for news and special interests science pages etc.
@Mark Fitzmaurice: Likewise FB finds you great for providing them with detailed information about your family, their and your network of associates, political persuasion, special interests, family photos, WiFi passwords, contacts, what you’ve been watching on Netflix, what books you like to read etc. etc. etc.
He is definately one of the lizard people.
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