Facebook requested help to monitor hate speech claims local social media analysts

Facebook is said to have asked local social media analysts to help them monitor hate speech and report such posts, a group of analysts claim.

Making this claim Social media analyst Nalaka Gunawardene has said a group of Facebook officials, himself and two others took part in a conference call in this regard yesterday where the social media officials had sought their help in this regard.

According to Gunawardena, the trio including himself, Sanjana Hattotuwa co-editor of Ground Views and social media personality Yudhanjaya Wijeratne had volunteered with their services to do the needful.

"We have said that we would help to identify some of the current shortcomings, quickly identify hate statements, and create a more efficient mechanism to report such posts to Facebook," Gunawardene said.

Minister of Digital Infrastructure, Harin Fernando had earlier said hate speech reported on Facebook are taken down in a very slow manner.

According to the local social media analysts, Facebook will hire local staffers and volunteers to monitor for hate speech in the future.