In Response To Livestreamed Deaths, Facebook Adds 3,000 Moderators

Following a number of high-profile incidents involving Facebook users hurting themselves and others on livestreamed video, the company has decided to add thousands of new moderators to review and flag violent content.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced in a post today that the company would add 3,000 moderators to its community operations team in response to recent “heartbreaking” videos of suicide and at least one deadly shooting.

“If we’re going to build a safe community, we need to respond quickly,” Zuckerberg wrote. “We’re working to make these videos easier to report so we can take the right action sooner — whether that’s responding quickly when someone needs help or taking a post down.”

The new reviewers — who join 4,500 current moderators — will work to remove posts that include hate speech and child exploitation, while working with community groups and law enforcement agencies who are in the best position to help someone if needed.

For example, Zuckerberg pointed to a situation last week in which a moderator saw someone on Facebook Live was considering suicide and contacted local law enforcement who were able to prevent the person from hurting himself.

Zuckerberg says that in addition to hiring more moderators, Facebook will continue to build other tools that make it simpler to report problems, allow moderators to review posts more quickly, and make it easier to contact law enforcement officials.

“No one should be in this situation in the first place, but if they are, then we should build a safe community that gets them the help they need,” he said.

Though Zuckerberg doesn’t specify the incidents that spurned this change, his company has taken a lot of heat over several recent Live videos.

Last month, the company received criticism over the time it took to take down a video showing a man shooting and killing an elderly man in Cleveland. The suspect in that incident taped the altercation and posted it to Facebook, where it stayed for several hours.

The social media platform also received heat for several videos in which users have either committed or attempted suicide. Just last week, Alabama.com reports, a man committed suicide on Facebook Live.