LinkedIn announced the release of its latest Transparency Report earlier this week. 

This Transparency Report covers the first 6 months of 2020, detailing LinkedIn’s efforts to secure user data and protect members from platform abuse. (Platform abuse includes spam, scams, fake accounts, the spread of misinformation and much more.) 

The report is divided into two sections: a Community Report and a Government Requests Report. All information shared covers the six-month period between January 1 and June 30, 2020. The Community Report covers actions taken to combat fake accounts, spamming and scamming, content violations and copyright removal requests. The Government Requests Report covers actions in response to government requests for member data and removal of content. 

LinkedIn Transparency Report: Noteworthy Moments

LinkedIn has seen record levels of user engagement this year. Unfortunately, along with the rise in user activity came an uptick in spamming, scamming, fake accounts and misinformation. LinkedIn shares some alarming stats on the levels of platform misuse along with comforting reassurance that the company is doing everything they can to prevent users from ever having to interact with this type of content. 

“We continue to catch more than 98% of the spam and scam content we remove before members encounter it.”

LinkedIn attributes this win to its powerful automated defense systems, which are continuing to learn how to identify abusive activity. Also noted was the increase in spam and scams reported by members which helped LinkedIn’s team find and remove content not detected by the AI.

One major attack is highlighted in the report. This year, LinkedIn fought a massive scammer attack that was attempting to create millions of fake accounts. The system’s automated defenses were able to block 98.4% of fake accounts.

LinkedIn reiterates that spamming, scamming and fake accounts of any nature are prohibited on the platform.

“We do not tolerate any content that violates our Professional Community Policies, and take swift action to remove it. We won’t always get it right and members can ask us to take a second look.

LinkedIn also wants to highlight the increasing spread of misinformation and the ongoing efforts the company is making to remove such content. This is the first time misinformation was included in the ‘content violations’ reporting. Just by looking at the graph of content violation issues, it’s clear that the spread of misinformation was a critical issue this year.

“For the January-June reporting period, we removed 22,846 instances of misinformation, including misinformation related to the global pandemic.”

These are only a few noteworthy moments from earlier this year. It’s great to see LinkedIn take these issue seriously and working hard to protect their members.

You can read LinkedIn’s full H1 2020 Transparency Report here.