Facebook owner Meta’s Oversight Board on Thursday asked the public for feedback on the publishing of immigration-related content that might be damaging to immigrants and shared two instances that Facebook moderators chose to leave on the site
TakeAway Points:
- Facebook owner Meta’s Oversight Board on Thursday invited comments from the public on the posting of immigration-related content that may be harmful to immigrants and shared two cases that Facebook moderators decided to keep on the platform.
- The first case the board shared relates to a Facebook page of a Polish far-right coalition party that posted a meme in May using a term for Black people widely considered to be offensive and derogatory in Poland.
- Meanwhile, Meta announced on Thursday that it had partnered with Blumhouse Productions, the Hollywood studio known for horror hits like “The Purge” and “Get Out,” to try out Movie Gen, a new generative AI video model.
Meta seeks public comment
The board plans to assess whether Meta’s decision to only protect refugees, migrants, and asylum seekers from the most severe attacks on its social media platforms under its hate speech policy is adequate.
The board is funded by the social media giant but operates independently. After gathering public comments, it can issue non-binding policy recommendations to Meta.
The first case the board shared relates to a Facebook page of a Polish far-right coalition party that posted a meme in May using a term for Black people widely considered to be offensive and derogatory in Poland, the board said.
The post was viewed over 150,000 times, shared over 400 times, has more than 250 comments and was reported 15 times by users for hate speech but was left on Facebook following a human review by Meta, it said.
In the second case, a German Facebook page in June uploaded a picture of a blond-haired, blue-eyed woman holding up her hand in a stop gesture, with text saying that people should no longer come to Germany as they don’t need any more “gang rape specialists”.
Meta decided to leave up the image after human review.
After the Oversight Board raised the issue, Meta’s policy subject matter experts reviewed both posts again but confirmed its original decisions were correct.
“These symbolic cases from Germany and Poland will help us determine whether Meta should be doing more and whether it is doing enough to prioritise this critical issue that matters to so many around the world,” board co-chair and former Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt said.
Meta collaborates with Blumhouse to test out its AI movie generation model
Facebook owner Meta said on Thursday it had teamed up with Blumhouse Productions, the Hollywood company behind popular horror films such as “The Purge” and “Get Out,” to put its new generative AI video model Movie Gen to the test.
The announcement comes after Meta unveiled Movie Gen, which it said can create realistic-seeming video and audio clips in response to user prompts, earlier this month. Meta claimed the tool could rival offerings from leading media generation startups such as OpenAI and ElevenLabs.
In a blog post, the social media company said Blumhouse had selected filmmakers Aneesh Chaganty, The Spurlock Sisters and Casey Affleck to try out Movie Gen and use clips generated by the tool in their short films.
Chaganty’s film would appear on Meta’s Movie Gen website, while films from Affleck and The Spurlock Sisters were forthcoming, Meta said.
Blumhouse CEO Jason Blum said in a statement that artists remain the lifeblood of the industry and innovative technology can aid in their storytelling.
“We welcomed the chance for some of them to test this cutting-edge technology and give their notes on its pros and cons while it’s still in development,” Blum said. “These are going to be powerful tools for directors, and it’s important to engage the creative industry in their development to make sure they’re best suited for the job.”
With the partnership, Meta is signaling how it aims to collaborate with creative industries, whose members have largely recoiled in response to the arrival of generative AI technologies over concerns around copyright and consent.
Issues with using copyright works to train AI
Several groups of copyright owners have sued major tech companies, including Meta, over the unauthorized use of their works to train generative AI systems. Meta has argued its AI training is protected by the copyright doctrine of fair use.
However, Meta and other tech companies have shown they are willing to pay for certain types of content for AI. Aside from the Movie Gen partnership, Meta said last month it had struck deals with actors including Judi Dench, Kristen Bell, and John Cena to give voice to its Meta AI chatbot.
Similarly, Microsoft-backed OpenAI has been meeting with Hollywood executives and agents this year to discuss possible partnerships involving its video generation tool Sora, which it first showed off in February.
No deals have been reported to have come out of those talks yet, though Lions Gate Entertainment said in September that it had struck a deal with another AI startup, Runway.
