Facebook COO Talks Countering Extremists With 'Likes'

Facebook and Twitter are two of many online destinations where extremist groups like ISIS share propaganda in an effort to bolster their real-life followers. Critics have accused these online destinations of failing to adequately squash such accounts. In recent days, Facebook unveiled an effort in Europe to help combat hate speech on the social network, and more recently the company's COO Sheryl Sandberg discussed countering extremism with floods of 'likes'.

Yesterday at the World Economic Forum, Sandberg commented about extremism on Facebook and some of the social network's users posting so-called "counter speech" on hate-filled pages. She used the example of a Facebook Page belonging to a neo-Nazi party, and how German users flooded the page with 'likes' and inspiring counter-speech messages, transforming what the page was all about.

She also talked about ISIS' efforts, saying:

The best thing to speak against recruitment by Isis are the voices of people who were recruited by Isis, understand what the true experience is, have escaped and have come back to tell the truth ... Counter-speech to the speech that is perpetuating hate we think by far is the best answer.

Some have criticized her statements, presenting them as if they point toward the sum-total of Facebook's efforts to combat radicalization and hate. Rather, though, she's simply pointing out something Facebook users themselves have done and can continue to do — spread messages counter to the hate rather than remaining silent.

As mentioned, Facebook is also working in Europe by funding a new program called the Online Civil Courage Initiative, which aims to increase understanding about the reality of online extremism and, subsequently, the best methods for combating it.

SOURCE: The Guardian