Facebook to Double ‘Safety’ Staff of Engineers, Reviewers, Experts to 20,000

Facebook will double its staff of content reviewers, systems engineers and security experts from 10,000 to 20,000 in 2018, Samidh Chakrabarti, product manager, said Thursday as part of several statements issued by the company. Guy Rosen, vice president of product management said Facebook’s restructuring will involve four election security priorities: combating foreign interference, fake account removal, ad transparency and reducing the spread of “false news.” “None of us can turn back the clock, but we are all responsible for making sure” the U.S. avoids foreign election interference in the future, he said: “We are taking our role in that effort very, very seriously.” Instead of reacting to reports from users about illicit content, Facebook is “proactively” monitoring for harmful election-related activity, Chakrabarti said.