Facebook pulls 22.5 million hate speech posts in second quarter

Facebook Inc. removed 22.5 million posts for violating the company’s policies around hate speech in the second quarter, more than double the number removed during the first three months of the year.

The company also said it removed about 95% of hate speech violations using automated software systems before a user ever reports them, according to a report released Tuesday. The data show Facebook also removed 1.5 billion fake accounts in the period, and millions of posts that violated its policies around organized hate groups and terrorism.

Civil rights groups claim that Facebook fails to enforce its policies, and organized an advertising boycott last month in which hundreds of companies pulled back on social media spending. A recent civil rights audit of Facebook’s practices also found the company failed to enforce its voter suppression policies against President Donald Trump. But Facebook has argued that its systems for detecting hate speech are getting better, and shares reports quarterly to demonstrate how much content the service removes.

A report from NBC News on Monday found that Facebook private Groups and Pages dedicated to the far-right QAnon conspiracy group have millions of followers on the platform. Facebook’s report released Tuesday does not mention QAnon.