Pump Into the Latest LinkedIn Transparency Report Insight
LinkedIn has released its most recent Transparency Report, which details content removals, government information requests, and spam/fake profile behaviour taken by the site in the first half of 2020.
Although LinkedIn does not receive the same level of attention as other sites in terms of exploitation programmes and/or influence campaigns, the recent shifts and steps LinkedIn is taking to keep its users secure are worth noting.
First and foremost, fake profiles are probably one of the most serious issues on LinkedIn, considering that if a user connects with you, they have access to all of your personal information from your LinkedIn profile.
Indeed, LinkedIn stopped 33.7 million accounts at the registration stage in the previous quarter, resulting in a 3x reduction in the most recent period. It’s unclear why this is, but it appears that, at least according to LinkedIn detections, the platform’s efforts to stamp out fake profiles are having an effect and deterring scammers from using this tool.
In terms of content violations, LinkedIn reports it saw a significant rise in the amount of content removed in a variety of categories, “including misinformation and violent or graphic content, motivated in part by world events that caused polarising content, such as the United States elections and COVID-19.”
LinkedIn is clearly putting in a lot of effort on all of these aspects, whether by better identification or increased operation. LinkedIn has seen a steady increase in user interactions, which seems to be resulting in more negative interactions as well.
The good news is that LinkedIn is responding, which should help users stay secure. However, the rises are significant, which may be a source of concern for the platform in the future.
The number of government requests for data on our members increased overall, but the requests covered much fewer member accounts than in the previous reporting period.
As a result, while some other sites are seeing a rise in requests for interference in user trends and political dialogue as authorities attempt to quell criticism and protest, LinkedIn is not seeing a noticeable increase in government actions.
Over time, the site has seen more sharing about people’s personal lives and values, rather than just professional contact, which may lead to more unwelcomed conflicts and personal conversations that veer into dubious territory.
It’ll be fascinating to see how these numbers hold up in LinkedIn’s next Transparency report, and whether they’re representative of longer-term app behaviour changes.