FACEBOOK ''LIVE-STREAM'' ACCESSES

SAN FRANCISCO : Facebook to tighten live stream access after mosque attacks.

Facebook on Friday said it was tightening live video streaming rules  in response to the service being used to broadcast deadly attacks on mosques in New Zealand.

The Christchurch attack - carried out by self-avowed white supremacist who opened fire on worshippers at two mosques - claimed 50 lives.

Many people have ''rightly questioned how online platforms such  as Facebook were used to circulate  horrific videos of the attack,'' chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg said in an online post.

''In the wake of the terrorist attack, we are taking three steps strengthening the rules for using  Facebook Live, taking further steps to address hate on our platforms, and supporting the New Zealand community,'' she added.

Facebook is looking into barring people who have previously violated the social network's community standards from livestreaming on its platform, according to Sandberg.

The social network is also investing in improving software to quickly identify edited versions of violent video or images to prevent them from from being shared or re-posted.

''While the original New Zealand attack video was shared Live, we know that the video spread mainly through people re-sharing it and re-editing it to make it harder for our systems to  block it,'' Sandberg said.

''People with bad intentions will always try to get around our security measures.''

Facebook identified more than 900 different videos showing portions of the streamed violence.

Hateful Nationalism : The social network is using artificial intelligence tools to identify and remove hate groups in Australia and New Zealand, according to Sandberg.

Those groups will be banned from Facebook services, she said.

Facebook this week announced that it will ban praise or support for  white nationalism  and white separation as part of stepped-up crackdown on hate speech.

The ban will be enforced starting this week on the leading  online social network and its image centric messaging service Instagram.

''It's clear that these concepts are deeply linked to organized  hate-groups  and have no place on our services,'' the social network said in a statement.

Facebook policies already banned posts endorsing white supremacy as part of its prohibition against spewing hate at people based on characteristics such as race, ethnicity or religion.

The ban had not applied to some postings because it was reasoned they were expressions of  broader concepts  of nationalism or political independence, according to the social network. [Agencies].