Facebook mistakenly labels Black men ‘primates’

Facial recognition software has been criticised by civil rights advocates who point out problems with accuracy, particularly when it comes to people who are not white.

Facebook on September 3 said it disabled its topic recommendation feature after it mistook Black men for “primates” in a video at the social network. A Facebook spokesperson called it a “clearly unacceptable error” and said the recommendation software involved was taken offline. “We apologize to anyone who may have seen these offensive recommendations,” Facebook said in response to an AFP inquiry.