WNY Gardeners in western New York has more than 7,500 members. The word “hoe” got them into trouble. Facebook’s algorithms sometimes flag this word as a “violation of community standards”.
A MARTINEZ, HOST:
Good Morning. I am a Martinez. Garden groups on Facebook are pretty healthy, a place to talk about anything about plants. But WNY Gardeners, which has over 7,000 members, has been charged with violating standards. Someone asked the group about their favorite and indispensable weeding tool. One replied push-pull hoe, but the AI didn’t understand the meaning. One more offensive comment – kill them all; drown them in soapy water. Hard to be a mistake. It’s MORNING EDITION.
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