Facebook to hire 1,000 people to review ads

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In an effort to deter Russia and other countries from using the Facebook to interfere in others’ elections, the company said on Monday that it plans to hire 1,000 more people to review ads and ensure they meet its terms.

Last month, Facebook said it believed people in Russia bought about 3,000 politically-divisive ads on its network in the United States in the months before and after the November US presidential election.

Since this disclosure, Facebook has faced questions and calls for increased US regulation from US authorities. Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg has outlined steps that the company plans to take to deter governments from abusing the world's largest social media network.

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“Reviewing ads means assessing not just the content of an ad, but the context in which it was bought and the intended audience – so we’re changing our ads review system to pay more attention to these signals,” the company said.

Facebook said it had 17,048 employees at the end of 2016, excluding contractors.

In May, it said it would hire 3,000 more people over the following year to speed up the removal of videos showing murder, suicide and other violent acts that shocked users.

Like other companies that sell advertising space, Facebook publishes policies for what it allows, prohibiting ads that are violent, discriminate based on race or promote the sale of illegal drugs.

With more than five million paying advertisers, however, Facebook has difficulty enforcing all of its policies.

The company said on Monday that it would adjust its policies further “to prevent ads that use even more subtle expressions of violence.” It did not elaborate on what kind of material that would cover.

Facebook also said it would begin to require more thorough documentation from people who want to run ads about US federal elections, demanding that they confirm their businesses or organizations.

Source(s): Reuters