Facebook Addresses Posting Standards, Government Requests For Information
By Edward Cardenas
SOUTHFIELD (CBS Detroit) - Facebook sought to clarify what is allowable to be posted on the social network, and the extent of government requests for information, in a blog posted Sunday.
Monika Bickert, Head of Global Policy Management, and Chris Sonderby, Deputy General Counsel, co-wrote the post in an attempt to provide clarity and examples of what is, and what is not, allowed on Facebook.
"Our goal is to give people a place to share and connect freely and openly, in a safe and secure environment," the pair wrote in the post. "We have a set of Community Standards that are designed to help people understand what is acceptable to share on Facebook. These standards are designed to create an environment where people feel motivated and empowered to treat each other with empathy and respect."
Broadly, Facebook doesn't allow users to bully or harass someone, post hate speech or threats of violence. If a user feels that someone violated these terms, they can report it to Facebook by clicking the "Report" link at the top, right-hand corner of a post.
According to the post, Facebook will challenge requests that appear to be unreasonable or overboard. If a country requests that we remove content because it is illegal in that country, Facebook may restrict access to it in the country where it is illegal.
The updated Community Standards are broken into four sections with explanations from Facebook:
- Helping to keep you safe: We remove content, disable accounts, and work with law enforcement when we believe there is a genuine risk of physical harm or direct threats to public safety.
- Encouraging respectful behavior: People use Facebook to share their experiences and to raise awareness about issues that are important to them. This means that you may encounter opinions that are different from yours, which we believe can lead to important conversations about difficult topics. To help balance the needs, safety, and interests of a diverse community, however, we may remove certain kinds of sensitive content or limit the audience that sees it.
- Keeping your account and personal information secure: People use Facebook to share their experiences and to raise awareness about issues that are important to them. This means that you may encounter opinions that are different from yours, which we believe can lead to important conversations about difficult topics. To help balance the needs, safety, and interests of a diverse community, however, we may remove certain kinds of sensitive content or limit the audience that sees it.
- Protecting your intellectual property: Facebook is a place for you to share the things that are important to you. You own all of the content and information you post on Facebook, and you can control how it is shared through your privacy and application settings. However, before sharing content on Facebook, please be sure you have the right to do so. We ask that you respect copyrights, trademarks, and other legal rights.
Facebook also released results of the Global Government Requests Report for the second half of 2014, which found an increase in government requests for data and content restrictions. The amount of content restricted for violating local law increased by 11 percent over the previous half, to 9,707 pieces of content restricted, up from 8,774.
Facebook also saw a rise in content restriction requests from countries including Turkey and Russia, and declines from Pakistan. Government requests for account data remained relatively flat, but there were increases from India while there was a decrease from the United States and Germany.
