Facebook has apologised after an algorithm generated a prompt that asked users if they would like to “keep seeing videos about primates” on a video of black men.
The video, which was shared on the platform by the Daily Mail on 27 June, featured clips of black men in altercations with white civilians and police officers.
A spokesperson for the social media giant said on Saturday that the prompt was “clearly an unacceptable error”.
They added that Facebook is investigating the cause and have disabled the entire topic recommendation feature in the meantime.
“While we have made improvements to our AI we know it’s not perfect and we have more progress to make. We apologize to anyone who may have seen these offensive recommendations,” the spokesperson added.
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“We apologize to anyone who may have seen these offensive recommendations.”
It comes after Darci Groves, a former content design manager at Facebook, told The New York Times that a friend had sent her a screenshot of the prompt.
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Ms Groves said she then posted it to a product feedback forum for current and former employees of the company, prompting the company to look into the “root cause”.
Last year, Twitter launched an investigation after users claimed that its image cropping feature favoured the faces of white people.
Over the summer, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram were all criticised when three England football players Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka were targeted by racist social media posts after missing penalties in the Euro 2020 finals.
Meanwhile, hundreds of Facebook employees also staged a virtual walkout last year to protest how the company took no action against a post by President Donald Trump on the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Musk had previously said we would form and fund a new political party to unseat lawmakers who supported the bill.
From bromance to bust-up
The Tesla boss backed Trump’s election campaign with more than a quarter of a billion dollars, later rewarded with a high profile role running the newly created department of government efficiency (DOGE).
Image: Donald Trump gave Musk a warm send-off in the Oval Office in May. Pic: Reuters
In May Musk left the role, still on good terms with Trump but criticising key parts of his legislative agenda.
After that, the attacks ramped up, with Musk slamming the sweeping tax and spending bill as a “disgusting abomination” and Trump hitting back in a barbed tit-for-tat.
Trump earlier this week threatened to cut off the billion-dollar federal subsidies that flow to Musk’s companies, and said he would even consider deporting him.
Donald Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ has passed and he’s due to sign it into law on Independence Day. Mark Stone and David Blevins discuss how the bill will supercharge his presidency, despite its critics.
They also chat Gaza and Ukraine, as Donald Trump meets with freed Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander and talks to Vladimir Putin.
If you’ve got a question you’d like the Trump100 team to answer, you can email it to trump100@sky.uk.
13 people have been killed in the US state of Texas after heavy rain caused flash flooding, according to local media reports.
Officials have also said more than 20 are missing from a girls’ camp in Texas.
As much as 10 inches (25 centimetres) of heavy rain fell in just a few hours overnight in central Kerr County, causing flash flooding of the Guadalupe River.
Judge Rob Kelly, the chief elected official in the county, confirmed fatalities from the flooding and dozens of water rescues so far.
A flood watch issued on Thursday afternoon estimated isolated amounts up to seven inches (17 centimetres) of rising water.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.