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Facebook removes 2 billion fake accounts

Posted at 5:15 PM, May 23, 2019
and last updated 2019-05-23 19:15:09-04
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(CNN NEWSOURCE) – Facebook says it removed 2.2 billion fake accounts in just three months. That’s a record, and almost as many as its legitimate number of monthly active users, which is 2.38 billion.

The company says many of the fake accounts come from automated attacks, and technicians are usually able to delete them minutes after they’re created.

Facebook says 25 of every 10,000 views of photos or videos involve content that violates graphic and violence policies.

Facebook also says it caught 83% of attempts to sell drugs and almost 70 percent of attempts to sell guns on its platform before users reported them.

That data comes from Facebook’s Community Standards Enforcement Report. Starting next year that report will come out quarterly instead of twice a year. It will also include data from Instagram.

Some experts have been calling for increased government regulation of Facebook in recent months.