Social Media websites: Facebook, Twitter, and Alphabet’s YouTube were unable to stop hate speech and misinformation in the US last year
In fact, When the country was struggling with widespread polarisation with the presidential election and coronavirus; a study released on Monday.
Advertising agency IPG Mediabrands conducted an audit grading;
How the top social media platforms had progressed or fallen back;
Across 10 categories; that surround what it calls “media responsibility,” including protecting children’s wellbeing and providing more transparency for advertisers.
The three social media giants; all performed worse in stopping hate speech on their platforms in the second half of 2020 compared with the first; Mediabrands said in a report on its updated audit.
Nine social media platforms agreed to participate in the audit.
Smaller platforms made notable advances throughout 2020; including the Chinese-owned app TikTok;
Facebook showed improvements in clamping down on false and misleading content; for instance, removing pages and groups related to the QAnon conspiracy theory.
Youtube With Lower Score
Popular Social Media Website; YouTube made no significant changes to its misinformation policies; leading to a lower score in the category, the agency said.
TikTok
The short-form video app made the biggest improvements out of the nine;
Moreover; taking steps like partnering with outside companies to protect advertisers; from appearing next to unsuitable content.
Also, Giving users better control over the types of videos they see on social media; said Elijah Harris; global head at Mediabrands agency Reprise.
But TikTok made improvements after “embracing our findings with open arms,” Harris said.
Adding that, Pinterest suspends accounts that continuously spread misinformation;
In fact, Reddit prioritizes fact-checking for categories like election and health content;
Which also helped both companies score the largest improvements in fighting false and misleading content, Mediabrands said.
To avoid giving top-scoring companies a false sense that their work is done; said Joshua Lowcock; CDO at IPG agency UM.
“We have a classroom of students who all need to work harder,” he said. however “There should be no proud parents here.”
The writer is Freelancer, associated with Medical Profession ,working towards PhD in Healthcare Management.