Some Facebook decisions ‘undermined civil rights’, audit finds

The audit found the firm had taken steps to build ‘a long-term civil rights accountability structure’, but they did not go far enough

The auditors highlighted Facebook’s reluctance to take action on posts by Trump this year which ‘allowed the propagation of hate/violent speech’

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The audit was commissioned by Facebook in 2018. Photo: dpa

Published: 12:04am, 9 Jul 2020Updated: 1:41am, 9 Jul 2020

Facebook has made a series of decisions that undermined civil rights, including allowing posts from US President Donald Trump that violate the values of the leading social network, an independent audit report said on Wednesday.

The audit commissioned by Facebook in 2018 found the California giant had taken “important steps forward in building a long-term civil rights accountability structure” but “are not sufficient and should not be the end of Facebook’s progress”.

Despite progress, “the auditors are concerned that those gains could be obscured by the vexing and heartbreaking decisions Facebook has made that represent significant setbacks for civil rights”, the 100-page report said.

The auditors expressed particular alarm at Facebook’s reluctance to take action on posts from Trump this year which “allowed the propagation of hate/violent speech” and “facilitated voter suppression”.

US President Donald Trump. Photo: Reuters

Facebook’s inaction “seems to reflect a statement of values that protecting free expression is more important than other stated company values”.