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Social networking website Facebook reached two billion active monthly users globally on Tuesday, the company has said via a statement.

An average of more than 800 million people "like"something each day on Facebook, and more than 175 million "share a Love reaction," the company said.

The website's "Groups"feature has more than a billion monthly users, it said. The groups are built around everything from sporting interests to humanitarian projects.

The company defines a monthly active user as a registered Facebook user who logged in and visited Facebook through its website or a mobile device, or used its Messenger app, in the past 30 days. It does not include people who use the Instagram or WhatsApp networks but not Facebook.

"As of this morning, the Facebook community is now officially 2 billion people!"co-founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg posted on Facebook.

"We're making progress connecting the world, and now let's bring the world closer together,"Zuckerberg wrote. "It's an honor to be on this journey with you."

Rapid growth

Founded in 2004, the social media behemoth hit the billion-user mark five years ago.

Now, the user base is bigger than the population of any single country, and of six of the seven continents. It represents more than a quarter of the world's 7.5 billion people.

The company said in May that duplicate accounts, according to an estimate from last year, may have represented some six percent of its worldwide user base.

Still, the social network's user population dwarfs that of similar companies. Twitter Inc reported in April monthly active users of 328 million, while Snap Inc's Snapchat had 166 million daily users at the end of the first quarter.

As it has grown, Facebook has updated features to fend off challengers such as Snapchat and adapt to trends such as the migration of news and streaming video online.

In the latest move to deepen its reach, it revealed Monday it is starting production on high-quality television series and gaming shows to be broadcast on its platform.

Hate speech

Facebook is also under pressure - along with other social media giants - to tackle the proliferation of hate speech and extremist content, trolls and misinformation, while safeguarding freedom of speech online.

Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter and YouTube announced Monday the launch of an anti-terror partnership aimed at thwarting the spread of extremist content on the internet.

Each of the technology giants has been working individually to prevent its platforms or services from being used to spread extremist views.

Facebook posted details Tuesday on how it defines and enforces rules against hate speech on its platform. Last month, Zuckerberg said the company would hire 3,000 employees in the next year to review and remove offensive content posted by users.

Whether hate speech, propaganda or activism, governments across the globe have upped efforts to curb content deemed illegal from circulating on social networks. From drawn out court cases to blanket bans, DW examines how some countries try to stop the circulation of illicit content while others attempt to regulate social media.

In Germany, Justice Minister Heiko Maas has proposed a law that would impose heavy fines on social media companies, such as Facebook, for failing to take down posts containing hate speech. But Facebook has pushed back, saying "preventing and combating hate speech and fake news is a public task that the state cannot avoid." The law is currently being reviewed by a German parliamentary committee.

In 2014, the European Court of Justice ruled that European citizens had the right to request search engines, such Google and Bing, remove "inaccurate, inadequate, irrelevant or excessive" search results linked to their name. Although Google has complied with the ruling, it has done so reluctantly, warning that it could make the internet as "free as the world's least free place."

In May, Ukraine imposed sanctions on Russian social media platforms and web services. The blanket ban affected millions of Ukrainian citizens, many of whom were anxious about their data. The move prompted young Ukrainians to protest on the streets, calling for the government to reinstate access to platforms that included VKontakte (VK), Russia's largest social network.

In 2015, the European Court of Justice ruled that Safe Harbor, a 15-year-old pact between the US and EU that allowed the transfer of personal data without prior approval, was effectively invalid. Austrian law student Max Schrems had launched the legal proceedings against Facebook in response to revelations made by former US National Security Agency (NSA) contractor, Edward Snowden.

In China, the use of social media is highly regulated by the government. Beijing has effectively blocked access to thousands of websites and platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. Instead, China offers its citizens access to local social media platforms, such as Weibo and WeChat, which boast hundreds of millions of monthly users.

Author: Lewis Sanders IV

sri/rd (dpa, AFP, Reuters)

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Facebook now has two billion monthly users - Deutsche Welle