NEWARK, N.J. (1010 WINS) -- New Jersey’s State Attorney General accused Facebook of not doing enough to combat hate groups on Wednesday and asked for reforms including allowing for outside investigators and for users to report problems directly to staff.
In a letter, State Attorney General Gurbir Grewal along with 19 other attorneys general from around the country wrote that Facebook had "fallen short" in policing itself and needed to more aggressively enforce its own policies and revise its algorithms so users were less likely to be directed to extremists.
"While Facebook has—on occasion—taken action to address violations," the letter said, "we know that everyday users of Facebook can find the process slow, frustrating, and ineffective."
Recently, CEO Mark Zuckerberg faced questions from federal lawmakers about Facebook’s size and dominance, as it continues to struggle on how to respond to misinformation from President Donald Trump.
"Facebook has ample resources to do far more than it has been doing," Grewal said, citing a recent audit that determined the company’s "approach to civil rights remains too reactive and piecemeal." The review also said harassment remains a persistent problem.
The company is working on curbing hate speech, according to a Facebook spokesman.
"Hate speech is an issue across the internet and we are working to make Facebook as safe as possible by investing billions to keep hate off our platform and fight misinformation," spokesman Daniel Roberts said in a statement. "We share the Attorneys General’s goal of ensuring people feel safe on the internet and look forward to continuing our work with them."
Facebook recently reported a rise in the amount of hate speech it tracks from online violators and has flagged over 9 million instances of "violent or dehumanizing speech" at the beginning of the year, compared with 1.6 million at the end of 2017.
Grewal has previously criticized the company over hate speech also called for the social media giant to make it easier for users to block groups of people and beef up oversight of "inflammatory advertisements that vilify minority groups."