© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A Google LLC logo is seen at the Google offices in the Chelsea section of New York City, U.S., January 20, 2023. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo
By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Google released an audit on Friday that examined how its policies and services affected civil rights and recommended the tech giant take action to tackle misinformation and hate speech, following pressure from advocates to do so. revision.
The disclosure by the company came after the Washington Post reported on Friday that Google (NASDAQ:) used an outside law firm to conduct a civil rights review. The WilmerHale Law Firm conducted the assessment.
The review released Friday recommended that Google, especially YouTube, revise its hate speech and harassment policies to address issues such as intentional gender confusion or deadnames and to “adapt to changing norms regarding protected groups.” .
The review also said that to better address election-related misinformation, the company should ensure that employees who are fluent in the language are more involved in compliance actions rather than relying on translation.
Google should also consider developing additional metrics to track the speed and efficiency with which it removes ads about election-related misinformation, including imposing higher penalties and permanent suspension for repeat offenders, the review added. .
“We are committed to constant improvement, and that includes efforts to strengthen our approaches to civil and human rights. To help guide us, we conduct and publish a voluntary civil rights audit of our policies, practices and products,” said Chanelle Hardy, Director for civil rights at Google, he said in an emailed statement Friday.
In recent years, human rights groups like Amnesty International have accused big tech companies like Google of not prioritizing rights issues.
“The surveillance-based business model of corporations is inherently incompatible with the right to privacy and poses a threat to a variety of other rights, including freedom of opinion and expression, freedom of thought, and the right to equality. and non-discrimination”, Amnesty International. International had said in a 2019 report on Google and Facebook (NASDAQ:).