Tech

Facebook moderators reportedly rely on inaccurate, outdated documents to determine forbidden content

Key Points
  • Facebook moderators rely on PowerPoint slides to determine what content to block or allow, according to The New York Times.
  • Some of the slides include outdated or inaccurate information.
  • Moderators say they must make decisions within seconds as they face pressure to review thousands of posts per day, according to the report.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg
Marlene Awaad | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Facebook's thousands of content moderators rely on a series of PowerPoint slides that contain inaccuracies and outdated information to determine what content to allow on the social network, according a report from The New York Times.

The documents, span more than 1,400 pages and are used to guide Facebook's more than 7,500 moderators as they approve or reject content, the paper said on Thursday. One of the slides inaccurately described a Bosnian war criminal as still being a fugitive, while another slide incorrectly describes an Indian law, according to the report.

The company confirmed the authenticity of the documents, according to the Times.

Facebook moderators said they often rely on Google Translate to read posts and face pressure to make decisions on content within a matter of seconds, the report said. One moderator said there is a rule to approve any post if it's in a language that no one available can read.

Read the full New York Times report here.

WATCH: Here's how to see which apps have access to your Facebook data — and cut them off

Here's how to see which apps have access to your Facebook data — and cut them off
VIDEO0:0000:00
Here's how to see which apps have access to your Facebook data — and cut them off