As a tech enthusiast and social media expert, I‘ve seen firsthand how Facebook‘s reporting tools can be a powerful way for users to help keep the platform safe and positive. While Facebook has made significant strides in proactively moderating harmful content, user reports still play a crucial role in identifying and removing posts and accounts that violate Community Standards.
In this in-depth guide, I‘ll walk through how to report different types of content on Facebook, share insights on what happens after you submit a report, and highlight some key statistics on the scale and effectiveness of content moderation on the platform. I‘ll also touch on why reporting benefits your own wellbeing, as well as the broader health of the Facebook community.
How to Report a Facebook Profile, Page or Group
If you come across an entire Facebook account (whether it‘s a personal profile, business Page, or group) that you believe is violating Community Standards, here‘s how you can report it:
Navigate to the profile, Page or group you want to report. If you can‘t find it, try searching for the name or ID.
Click the "…" (more) icon and select "Find Support or Report Profile/Page/Group".
Select the option that best describes why you‘re reporting the account, such as:
- Pretending to be someone else
- Fake name
- Posting inappropriate content
- Harassment or bullying
- Hate speech, violence or harmful misinformation
- Promoting illegal goods or services
- Intellectual property infringement
Provide additional details in the text box to help Facebook‘s team understand the issue. Be as specific and factual as possible.
Click "Submit" to file the report, then watch for confirmation and status updates in your Support Inbox.
Facebook will review the account and take appropriate action, which may include removing the account entirely, deleting specific violating content, or sending the user a warning. Note that reporting is confidential, so the person you report will not know it was you.
How to Report a Specific Post, Comment or Message
Sometimes it may just be an individual piece of content, rather than an entire account, that violates standards. In that case, you can report the specific post, comment, video, photo or message:
Click the "…" (more) icon in the top right of the content you want to report.
Select "Find Support or Report Post/Comment/Message".
Choose the Community Standard you believe it violates, such as:
- Violence and incitement
- Hate speech
- Bullying and harassment
- Suicide and self-injury
- False news and misinformation
- Unauthorized sales
- Nudity and sexual content
Add details in the text box to provide context on why the content is harmful.
Click "Submit" and watch for a confirmation and updates.
If the content is found to violate policies upon review, it will be removed from Facebook. The user responsible may face additional consequences like feature limits or a temporary ban for repeated violations.
What Happens After You Submit a Report
Once you report a piece of content or an account, it enters Facebook‘s content moderation system for review. Facebook uses a combination of human reviewers and machine learning technology to determine if the content violates specific Community Standards.
Obvious violations, like graphic violence or explicit nudity, can often be caught automatically by AI before a human even reports it. Facebook says its proactive detection rate is over 90% for several violation categories. However, user reports are still essential for surfacing more contextual or nuanced issues that require human judgment, like harassment or misinformation.
If the content is found to be violating, it will be removed from the platform. The user who posted it may also face additional consequences, depending on the severity and frequency of violations:
- Warning for first-time minor offenses
- Temporary ban or feature limits for repeated violations
- Permanent account disabling for severe or habitual offenders
You can monitor the status of your reports in the Support Inbox, although Facebook does not share specifics on actions taken due to privacy. Rest assured that appropriate measures are applied based on the circumstances. The person you reported will not be told it was you who flagged their content.
Content Moderation by the Numbers
To give a sense of the massive scale of content moderation on Facebook, let‘s look at some key data points from the Community Standards Enforcement Report for Q3 2022:
- 1.4 billion content actioned for violations, down from 1.8 billion in Q3 2021
- 14.6 million content actioned for violence and incitement, up 23% from Q3 2021
- 236.5 million content actioned for nudity and sexual activity, up 39% YoY
- 17.5 million content actioned for child nudity and sexual exploitation, up 7%
- 133.6 million actioned for copyright and trademark infringement, up 37%
Across the 12 policy categories covered in the report, Facebook proactively detected over 90% of violating content before users reported it. This is thanks to major advancements in AI technology in recent years. However, the proactive rate varies significantly by violation type:
| Policy | Proactive Detection Rate |
|---|---|
| Spam | 99.9% |
| Fake Accounts | 99.8% |
| Drugs | 98.6% |
| Firearms | 97.1% |
| Terrorism | 96.2% |
| Child Nudity | 95.9% |
| Hate Speech | 90.2% |
| Harassment | 75.6% |
| Bullying | 72.3% |
As you can see, AI is highly effective at catching clear-cut issues like spam and fake accounts. But nuanced categories like harassment and bullying still rely more heavily on user reports to surface violations.
Another important metric is how often content is restored after the user appeals a moderation decision. If Facebook removes your content and you disagree with the decision, you can request an additional review. According to the Q3 report, 733,200 pieces of content were restored upon appeal, which equates to about 0.05% of total content actioned in the quarter. The appeal restoration rate is highest for hate speech (2.1%) and bullying (1.6%), likely because those categories involve more subjective judgment calls.
Looking at the numbers, it‘s clear that content moderation on Facebook is a complex issue at a staggering scale. While Facebook is making massive investments in automated detection and human review, user reports still play an important role in keeping the platform safe.
The Human Impact of Viewing and Reporting Harmful Content
Beyond the data and technical details of the reporting process, it‘s important to acknowledge the very real psychological impact of encountering abusive, disturbing or dangerous content on social media.
Research has shown that repeated exposure to negativity online can lead to secondary traumatic stress, anxiety, depression and even PTSD in severe cases. Viewing graphic violence or hate speech can feel like a personal attack and takes a toll on your mental wellbeing over time. This is especially true for vulnerable groups frequently targeted by harassment and discrimination.
That‘s why the simple act of reporting a piece of content that upsets you can be an empowering way to protect your own mental health as well as others‘. By saying "this is not okay", you disrupt the spread of negativity, hold the offender accountable, and make the community a little bit safer and more positive.
It‘s completely normal to feel frustrated or dissatisfied with the reporting process at times. Maybe you didn‘t get a timely response, or maybe Facebook didn‘t seem to agree that the content violated standards. Just remember that your report does make a difference, even if you don‘t see the direct result. Every bit of data helps improve Facebook‘s moderation systems to better catch bad content in the future.
If you‘re struggling with the emotional impact of a toxic online interaction, it‘s important to seek support from friends, family or mental health professionals. There is no shame in being affected by the negativity you see online. What you witnessed was not okay, and your feelings are valid.
Holding Facebook Accountable
While Facebook has made significant progress in moderating harmful content over the years, there is still a lot of room for improvement. Many users and outside advocates argue that Facebook needs to be more transparent and consistent in how content standards are enforced.
As users, we can hold Facebook accountable by continuing to report violations when we see them and following up on the status of those reports. If you feel that your content was wrongly removed, you have the right to appeal the decision and request an additional review.
We can also engage with the independent Oversight Board, which hears high-profile content cases and makes binding decisions on content enforcement. The board publishes all case decisions to their website, along with the rationale and any policy recommendations for Facebook. As of January 2023, the board has overturned or partially overturned over two-thirds of Facebook‘s original decisions in the cases they reviewed.
Finally, we can participate in user feedback surveys and focus groups to share our experiences and ideas for improvement with Facebook‘s teams. As a social media expert, I always encourage my colleagues and clients to take these opportunities to let their voice be heard. Facebook needs to understand the real human impact of their policies and products.
At the end of the day, content moderation at scale is an enormously complex challenge that Facebook will likely always be working to improve. But by reporting violations, sharing feedback, and supporting each other, we can all play an active role in building a safer, more positive online community.
