LONDON: Meta Platforms’ Instagram failed to remove abusive comments aimed at female politicians who are potential candidates for the 2024 US elections, according to a report by the non-profit Center for Countering Digital Hate on Wednesday.
The report analyzed over half a million comments on Instagram posts by five Democratic and five Republican women politicians, including Senator Elizabeth Warren, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Vice President and presidential candidate Kamala Harris, Senator Marsha Blackburn and Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene.
CCDH flagged over 20,000 comments as “toxic,” with 1,000 of these comments containing sexist and racist abuse, as well as death and rape threats. Instagram left up 93 percent of the harmful comments even after breaching the platform’s standards.
In response to the report, Meta said it has tools in place for users to control comments on their posts, including filtering out offensive comments, phrases or emojis.
“We will review the CCDH report and take action on any content that violates our policies,” said Cindy Southworth, head of women’s safety at Meta.
In its analysis of the 2020 US election, the CCDH report found that women of color were more likely to be targets of sexist and racist abuse.
The rise of online abuse against women politicians has drawn criticism from advocacy groups.
It also highlighted how social media algorithms that prioritize emotional content and engagement can inadvertently amplify this abuse, a feature that politicians often leverage to boost their engagement rates.
This underscores the role social media platforms and their algorithms play in the propagation of online abuse, a problem that extends beyond the political sphere and affects millions of users worldwide.
The report urged social media platforms to enforce their safety guidelines more effectively and take decisive action against targeted online abuse.
Meta’s Instagram failed to curtail hate speech against women politicians, report says
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Meta’s Instagram failed to curtail hate speech against women politicians, report says
- Center for Countering Digital Hate said Instagram left up 93 percent of the harmful comments directed at US women politicians
Media watchdogs condemn Israeli airstrike that killed 3 journalists in Gaza, call for investigation
- International Press Institute, Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders among organizations demanding urgent action
DUBAI: Media watchdogs including the International Press Institute, the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders have spoken out against Israel’s treatment of media workers following an airstrike that killed 3 journalists in Gaza on Wednesday.
Those killed were Mohammed Salah Qashta, Abdul Raouf Shaat and Anas Ghneim.
The Israeli military said the attack targeted what it had identified as “several suspects” operating a drone and “affiliated with Hamas.”
According to eyewitnesses, the journalists were using a drone to record aid distribution by the Egyptian Relief Committee when the strike hit one of the committee’s vehicles.
The IPI called for an “immediate and credible investigation” and renewed pressure on the international community to take “concrete actions” to hold Israel accountable.
IPI executive director Scott Griffen said the Israeli government has “failed to credibly investigate attacks on journalists” and that the “international community has failed to hold Israel to account for its pattern of targeting and killing journalists.”
He urged strong action, saying that “it is long past time for the international community to take concrete steps to end the cycle of complete impunity for killings of journalists in Gaza.”
The International Federation of Journalists and the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate also condemned the killings and attacks on journalists, calling for an immediate investigation.
The IFJ appealed to all “combatants in this conflict to do their utmost to safeguard journalists and media professionals,” said IFJ general secretary Anthony Bellanger.
“Media workers in areas of armed conflict must be treated and protected as civilians and allowed to perform their work without interference,” he added.
The PJS said that the direct shelling of the journalists’ vehicle constitutes a war crime and a crime against humanity under international humanitarian law, in violation of the Geneva Conventions and UN resolutions that guarantee the protection of journalists during armed conflicts.
The syndicate called on the International Criminal Court to open “urgent and serious investigations” and to “issue arrest warrants against those responsible for the killing of journalists.”
It also urged the UN and other international organizations to take action “rather than limiting their response to statements of condemnation.”
The CPJ condemned the strike, which took place amid a ceasefire, said regional director Sara Qudah.
“Israel, which possesses advanced technology capable of identifying its targets, has an obligation under international law to protect journalists,” she said.
On Thursday, CPJ and RSF called on the 29 member states of the Media Freedom Coalition, in a joint letter, to take concrete steps toward guaranteeing media access to the Gaza Strip.
The move comes ahead of the Israeli Supreme Court hearing on Jan. 26 that will determine whether the press will have independent access to Gaza.
The signatories asked governments to send official representatives to the Jan. 26 hearing and to prioritize press freedom in their engagement with the new technocratic government, formed under a US-backed plan to govern Gaza.
They also urged states to ensure that the International Stabilization Force applies UN Security Council Resolution 2222, which recognizes journalists as civilians during armed conflict and affirms their right to protection and access.
“The inaction of states around the world encourages censorship and sets a dangerous precedent for other conflicts, to the detriment of civilian populations, humanitarian aid and political decisions based on verified facts,” said RSF director general Thibaut Bruttin.
More than 200 Palestinian journalists and media workers have been killed since the start of the war in October 2023, according to multiple reports.
