Facebook released new community standards on Sunday aimed at giving users a better idea of what kind of content the social network will remove. The company wrote that it understood that when people share graphic images or videos, sometimes “they are condemning it or raising awareness about it.”
facebook revises policy on what you can and can't post + shares figures showing increase in gov't data requests http://t.co/D0krn749N9
— Tony Romm (@TonyRomm) March 16, 2015The company has faced criticism in the past for banning graphic political messages, like videos of Tibetan monks setting themselves on fire to protest Chinese policies. Conversely, some have criticized Facebook for not being aggressive enough when it comes to banning violent images and videos from groups like ISIS or ISIL. Facebook now says it will “remove graphic images when they are shared for sadistic pleasure or to celebrate or glorify violence.” NBC News contacted Facebook for comment but the company did not immediately respond.
Facebook also addressed controversy over nudity on the site. Last week, a French court agreed to hear a case from a school teacher who sued Facebook for taking down a photograph of Gustave Courbet’s nude statue “L’Origine du Monde.” The company now says it will “allow photographs of paintings, sculptures, and other art that depicts nude figures.”
It also restricts photos of “female breasts if they include the nipple” but will make exceptions for “women actively engaged in breastfeeding or showing breasts with post-mastectomy scarring.” Worldwide, Facebook wrote, the amount of content removed for violating local law increased 11% over the second half of 2014, with Turkey and Russia seeing the biggest rise in restriction requests.
Keith Wagstaff