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Facebook Flooded With 'Sextortion' and Revenge Porn, Files Reveal (theguardian.com)

An anonymous reader writes: Facebook had to assess nearly 54,000 potential cases of revenge pornography and "sextortion" on the site in a single month, according to a leaked document. Figures shared with staff reveal that in January Facebook had to disable more than 14,000 accounts related to these types of sexual abuse -- and 33 of the cases reviewed involved children. The company relies on users to report most abusive content, meaning the real scale of the problem could be much greater. But the Guardian has been told that moderators find Facebook's policies on sexual content the hardest to follow. "Sexual policy is the one where moderators make most mistakes," said a source. "It is very complex." Facebook admitted this was a high priority area and that it was using "image-matching" software to stop explicit content getting on to the site. It also acknowledged it was difficult to draw a line between acceptable and unacceptable sexual content.

5 of 54 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Shocker by mu51c10rd · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Slashdot doesn't cater to the lowest common denominator

    Oh? Ever try browsing at -1? I'm quite sure Slashdot has plenty lowest common denominator types...

  2. Re:Shocker by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Is it really a shock that the human race is full of a bunch of morally corrupt douche bags?

    Actually, this is evidence for the opposite: That people are generally good.

    There are over a billion people on Facebook, and only 54,000 sextortioners. That is only 0.0054% or about one out of every 19,000 users.

  3. Re:Shocker by MightyMartian · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Such individuals make up only a small portion of the population. It's just that social media greatly magnifies their impact.

    --
    The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  4. Um, actually, by rickb928 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "Facebook Flooded With 'Sextortion' and Revenge Porn, Files Reveal"

    "Facebook had to assess nearly 54,000 potential cases of revenge pornography and "sextortion" on the site in a single month"

    Um, this site claims there were almost 5 billion pieces of content posted in march 2017. .0001% of all items? Wow, a flood?

    "in January Facebook had to disable more than 14,000 accounts related to these types of sexual abuse"

    This site (again) claims there were 1.94 billion active accounts in March 2017... Hard'y a huge fraction they disabled. .00072%?

    "and 33 of the cases reviewed involved children."

    This, however, is truly despicable. And virtually immeasurable. Sad to think they must have missed a lot more.

    --
    deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
  5. Puritan sex rules by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    "Sexual policy is the one where moderators make most mistakes," said a source. "It is very complex."

    Yes, this is because they are all rediculous and ultimately at their very root, based on socio-political norms that are constantly changing and never in agreement.

    The biggest example of course being, "does a bare female breast constitute porn?"

    What's the difference between a male breast and a female breast? The female one produces milk for infants. What's the societal difference? Female breasts are sexual. By this logic, an infant getting milk is a sexual act, and a man's wife biting his nipple during sex, is not.

    If anything, male breasts should be considered sexual. Female breasts at least serve a biological purpose. Male breasts are only useful as an erogenous zone.