Microsoft is keen in curbing hate speech and ensuring a safe online community on its online services. To this effect the company has gone ahead and launched a new dedicated web form which users can use to report hate speech on its hosted consumer services.
In a blog post posted on Saturday, Jacqueline Beauchere, Microsoft Chief Online Safety Officer says:
We will continue our “notice-and-takedown” approach for removing prohibited content on hosted consumer services, and the new form aims to improve the quality and speed of our reviews. When hate speech is reported to us, we will evaluate each complaint, consider context and other factors, and determine appropriate action with respect to the content and the user’s account.
Since there is a possibility that your content maybe pulled down by mistaken, Microsoft has also launched a separate web form for users to submit petitions to reconsider and reinstate content.
The blog post goes ahead and says:
We take seriously our responsibilities in removing hate speech and addressing other violations of our terms of use, but we’re not perfect. We already provide customers, within various consumer products and services, the means to ask us to review a content removal decision they feel was made in error. And, just as we’re making it simpler for users to report hate speech, we’re also adding a new multi-service reconsideration form to request reinstatement of content that customers feel was disabled in error. We will review submissions via this new form, and if appropriate, reinstate the content.
Some of the services Microsoft offers include Outlook, OneDrive, Xbox, Skype and Office 365. They have a combined user base ranging in the millions.
It is good to see that Microsoft is working with the broader internet community to curb the hate speech menace. With this move Microsoft seeks to improve transparency in how it handles offensive content on its online platforms.
