Facebook responds to anti-gay tragedies

The effort teams Facebook with MTV’s A Thin Line campaign; GLAAD; the Human Rights Campaign (HRC); the Trevor Project; the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN); and Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG).

The company worked with GLAAD this month to remove hate speech from a page that memorialized anti-gay tragedies. The page was inundated with hateful comments, and GLAAD members worked to alert Facebook of inappropriate language, which the site worked to remove. Facebook regularly removes hate speech, threats and other comments that violate its terms of service. 

The new partnership aims to attack the problem before hate speech occurs.

“It’s not just about removing bad content, it’s also about preventing it,” Facebook’s Network of Support page says. 

“We believe that educating people about the lasting and damaging impact of hateful remarks is a shared responsibility and that’s why we routinely call upon top Internet safety experts — like members of our Safety Advisory Board — for advice and resources for our Safety Center and our Safety Page,” the company said.