Facebook in row over moderation process

Social networking website Facebook has been criticized for employing content moderators in the developing world and allowing them to access people’s personal information, The Telegraph reported Saturday.

Facebook responded saying: “No user information beyond the content in question and the source of the report is shared.”

However, new evidence seen by the newspaper shows that these moderators, who have to deal with the distressing images and messages every day, are able to see the names of the person who uploaded the “offensive” content, the subject of the image or person tagged in a photo, in addition to the person who has reported the content.

Former Facebook moderator, 21 year-old Amine Derkaoui from Morocco, has shown The Telegraph several screenshots of what these outsourced workers see when deciding if a piece of content is suitable to be on the site.

Security experts are concerned about the amount of personal i nformation Facebook is allowing these poorly paid third-party workers in the developing world access to.

Graham Cluley, of the British internet security firm Sophos, said, “When people report content on Facebook, I don’t think they expect all of their details to end up in India, with someone who doesn’t directly work f or Facebook... By sharing information about a Facebook account holder, there is obviously the potential for abuse and blackmail.”

(IANS)