Facebook works to remove anti-gay hate speech

(AP) -- Facebook is working with a gay-advocacy group to reduce the amount of hate speech and bullying on the online social hub.

Anti-gay bullying has been in the spotlight recently after the suicides of several gay teenagers, including Rutgers freshman Tyler Clementi, garnered national attention. According to police, the 19-year-old jumped off the George Washington Bridge after his roommate secretly recorded him with another male student and distributed video online.

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation says it reached out to Facebook last week after Internet bullies flooded a page it set up to honor teens who recently killed themselves in response to anti-gay hate. Facebook says its policies prohibit hateful content and it has systems in place to take down such posts as soon as possible.

©2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.