Facebook tries to police ‘secret’ groups
U.S. Border Patrol agents are under fire for posting offensive messages in a “secret” Facebook group that included sexually explicit posts about U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-cortez and dismissive references to the deaths of migrants in U.S. custody. The existence of that group was reported Monday by Propublica. Prior to that, few people outside the group had ever heard of it.
Facebook enforces complex guidelines regarding hate speech, abuse and other categories. Here’s a look at how the social network handles similarly offensive material when it’s posted inside the more private corners of the service, in the online gatherings known as “groups.”
What’s a secret group?
Facebook groups typically require the approval of a group administrator or an existing member.
Many such groups are public, meaning that anyone can search them out, see a list of their members and browse people’s posts without joining — even if they’re not on Facebook. Other groups are “closed.” These boards show up in a search, although only members can see posts and the names of other members.
“Secret” groups, by contrast, aren’t visible to outsiders; not even the groups’ names turn up in searches. Joining one requires being invited by a member.
Facebook says about 400 million of its users are in what it considers “meaningful” groups. The company doesn’t disclose how many of these groups are public, closed or secret.
Are Facebook’s rules different?
Facebook says all groups, including secret ones, are subject to the same community standards it applies to individual posts. Among other things, those rules forbid bullying and harassment, hate speech, glorification of violence and “cruel and insensitive” posts that target “victims of serious physical or emotional harm.”
While Facebook uses artificial intelligence to proactively find nudity, graphic violence and terrorist propaganda and a host of other things, its systems are not sophisticated enough yet to catch nuance, context and satire.
What is Facebook’s response?
Facebook said it is cooperating with federal authorities on their investigation. It did not respond to questions about whether any of the posts on the secret Border Patrol group — called “I’m 10-15” in a reference to Border Patrol code for “aliens in custody” — violated its standards.
The group has roughly 9,500 members, according to Propublica.
Are outsiders to blame?
Some Border Patrol defenders suggested that border agents themselves might not be to blame for all of the posts. The National Border Patrol Council, a union for agents, condemned the 10-15 posts, but noted that the group included “members of the public” as well as current and former agents.
Propublica said it linked posts within the group with “apparently legitimate Facebook profiles belonging to Border Patrol agents, including a supervisor based in El Paso, Texas, and an agent in Eagle Pass, Texas,” although it was unable to reach those individuals.
It’s not impossible for outsiders to join a secret group, depending on how thoroughly its administrators vet their invitees. Facebook is not involved in that process.