Bing EU Digital Services Act Transparency Report

This section describes activities Bing undertakes to detect and address illegal content or information in violation of Bing’s terms and conditions that is provided by recipients of the service, and the activities Bing’s generative artificial intelligence (AI) features² undertake to address recipient accounts in violation of their terms of use and code of conduct.³

Use of AI-based classifiers on search prompts. Traditional web search begins with a user search query, namely the input (text, voice, or image) a user sends to Bing from the search bar. Similarly, during the relevant period, to initiate a search in Bing’s new AI-enhanced search experiences, a user submits text, voice, images, and/or other enabled queries as input to the AI model, which then performs the relevant searches of the Bing service and generates a response (or, in the case of Image Creator in Bing, generates an image). This is known as a “prompt”. Bing uses classifiers (machine learning models that help sort data into labeled classes or categories) and content filters on user search queries and prompts to help mitigate harm or prevent misuse. Examples include requests for information that could potentially lead to users being unexpectedly exposed to self-harm, violence, graphic content, hateful content, or misleading information. Flags from these classifiers may lead to mitigations, such as not returning generated content to the user, diverting the user to a different topic, or redirecting the user from AI-enhanced search to traditional web search. Bing tracks accuracy metrics for these measures such as precision, recall, error rate, under blocking and over blocking to help monitor the interventions’ effectiveness and help ensure Bing does not unduly limit free access to information. Accuracy metrics are overseen by human reviewers and based on Bing content policies.

Automated content detection – Bing Visual Search. Bing’s Visual Search feature allows users to upload an image and search for similar images or ask questions about the image. As part of Microsoft’s longstanding commitment to preventing the spread of child sexual exploitation and abuse imagery (CSEAI), Bing uses hash matching technologies to detect matches of previously identified CSEAI. In the context of the immediate search, the use of these technologies furthers Bing’s goal to avoid inadvertently surfacing potentially harmful web content to users. More broadly, images that have been used as queries in Bing Visual Search may contribute to training Bing’s image-matching algorithms; by scanning images that users attempt to upload, Bing helps to ensure that CSEAI is not included in the Visual Search training data. Please see below for additional details about these processes.

Bing’s generative AI features (powered by Microsoft Copilot and Image Creator) enforcement actions. In regard to Copilot in Bing and Image Creator in Bing features, Bing took action on recipient accounts where violations of Copilot Terms of Use⁴ are found, to either temporarily or permanently limit their access to be the same as an unauthenticated user,⁵ which has the same functionalities, but limited conversation turns. Image Creator in Bing (which includes Image Creator services in Copilot) takes actions on recipient accounts where violations of Image Creator Terms of Use⁶ are found, to either temporarily or permanently suspend their account access to Image Creator.

Training and assistance. Human reviewers receive extensive training on our policies including the rationale behind them and how to apply them accurately and consistently. Decisions are periodically checked to ensure the policies are being applied consistently. Ongoing coaching and training are provided to review teams, as legal obligations evolve, new types of harms emerge, or policies otherwise need to adapt. For high-consequence harms, like child sexual exploitation and abuse, specialized teams receive additional focused training. Microsoft provides a program to support the mental and emotional wellbeing of Microsoft employees whose work may bring them into contact with objectional material. This program provides resources such as one on one counseling, monthly education sessions, on demand small group sessions, virtual community of practice gatherings, and access to program manager office hours. Microsoft requires our vendors to provide wellness programs for any vendor employees working with objectional material.

Bing does not provide capabilities for users to share content or interact with other users on the platform. As such, during the relevant period, Bing did not take measures that affected a recipient’s right to share content or interact with other users on the service due to illegal content or violations of terms and conditions. In the case of Bing’s generative AI features (which are powered by Microsoft Copilot and Image Creator in Bing), there are some scenarios where a user may be suspended or blocked from using the Copilot or Image Creator services due to violations of the Terms of Use. Note that in Copilot in Bing (previously known as Bing Chat) and in Image Creator in Bing (previously known as Image Creator from Designer) there is still no ability for users to upload, post or share content on the service. Account restrictions are not related to actions affecting other users, but instead relate to users attempting to generate content for their own use that violates relevant terms or codes of conduct.

During the relevant period, Copilot (including Copilot in Bing features) temporarily restricted the recipient’s ability to interact with the product (thus limiting the number of turns in a conversation) in 68 instances and permanently restricted the recipient’s ability to interact with the product in 20 instances as a result of violations of Copilot Terms of Use and Code of Conduct which prevented the recipient from further exploitation of Copilot safety systems. For each of these instances the violation was due to “jailbreaks” - i.e., attempts to bypass Copilot safety systems.   

During the relevant period, Image Creator in Bing (which includes Image Creator services in other Microsoft offerings including Designer, Copilot, etc.) temporarily or permanently restricted access to 26,318 instances (thus limiting the recipient account’s access to Image Creator services in other Microsoft offerings including Designer, Copilot, etc.) as a result of violations of the Image Creator Terms of Use. In the relevant period these actions were taken as a result of users attempting to bypass Image Creator in Bing safety systems.