[Talk-GB] Meta/Facebook #ProfanityCleanup

[Robert Skedgell]

On 12/01/2023 09:56, Mark Goodge wrote:
> 
> 
> On 11/01/2023 15:36, David Woolley wrote:
> 
>> I would have thought that all valid cases for change would fall into 
>> other categories, such as vandalism.  Meta's profanity detector may be 
>> a way of detecting other problems, but it should be the other problem 
>> that gets actioned and tagged.
> 
> I do wonder if it might simply be an unintended side effect of automated 
> systems. If something is flagged for profanity, among other issues, then 
> when it's edited the profanity tag will show as being resolved even 
> though the true reason for the edit was to fix some other (and entirely 
> genuine) problem.

Another problem is that Meta's filter for words which might be slightly 
rude in some contexts is set at a level where even Mary Whitehouse might 
have found it difficult to justify pearl-clutching.

> The Dyke/Dike typo mentioned in the original post is a good example of 
> that; in that instance the correct local spelling is the less common 
> one, but fixing it will also cause it to cease being flagged as a 
> profanity.

The Meta editor's comments suggest that this was the case, but a more 
useful and accurate changeset comment should have been used without the 
irrelevant hashtag.

> I'm a bit less sure about Pussy Lane, but I'm willing to 
> assume good faith on the part of the editor as there doesn't appear to 
> be any current open data source for that name (and non-open sources 
> disagree: OS MasterMap calls it Pussy Lane but it's just "Access Road to 
> rear of premises in Westerley Street" in the NSG).

No, we've only got a historical OS map which is over 100 years old for 
the name.

However, Westerley Way has USRN 19419685 (Designated Street Name), 
assigned by Kirklees Council. The part of Pussy Lane to the North of 
Water Lane has two USRNs, 19413506 (Officially Described Street) and 
19420049 (Unofficial Street Name). NSG isn't open, so we can only say 
that it is probable that Pussy Lane has a different name to Westerley Way.

On the other hand, Meta had precisely zero sources, current or 
otherwise, which could have justified the replacement of the Pussy 
Lane's name with that of an adjacent and newer street.

I have added the USRNs in
https://www.openstreetmap.org/changeset/131181781

-- 
Robert Skedgell (rskedgell)