Lok Sabha election 2019: Facebook removing 1 million accounts a day

With the first phase of Lok Sabha polls just days away, Facebook on Monday said it is removing or blocking about one million abusive accounts a day with the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) tools. "We are absolutely committed to maintaining the integrity of the elections in India and will continue to work with local organisations, government groups and experts to make that happen," Ajit Mohan, Facebook`s Managing Director and Vice President, India, wrote in a blog post.

Facebook said it was working for more than 18 months now to make sure that Indian elections were fair and free from interference, both foreign and domestic. "This work is done across dozens of teams, both in India and around the globe, and began more than 18 months ago with a detailed planning and risk assessment across our platforms," Mohan added.

Facebook had earlier launched the political ad transparency tools, giving people a clearer picture of who is placing the ads they see. The social networking giant recently launched two new products in India to help people learn about issues they care about and engage with candidates and elected officials in meaningful ways. 

"Candidate Connect" is designed to give voters accurate information and help people learn more about different candidates. And "Share You Voted" lets people share with friends that they`ve cast their ballot in the Lok Sabha elections. "Building on lessons we`ve learned over the past two years, this week we will activate new regional operations centres, focused on election integrity, in Singapore and Dublin," Mohan said.

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These teams include engineers, operations specialists and data scientists, and will work closely with staff in Facebook`s Menlo Park, California headquarters, as well as with experts in Delhi. Facebook said it was also using AI and ML to identify abusive or violating content, quickly locate it across the platform and remove it in bulk. 

"We continue to expand on this initiative, adding 24 new languages -- including 16 for India -- to our automatic translation system," Mohan said. Facebook last week removed nearly 700 Pages, Groups and accounts in India for violating its policies on what it calls "coordinated inauthentic behaviour" and spam.