What’s not on Facebook? We now know a little more.
Yesterday, the company released an update on its community standards, explaining in more depth what’s likely to be taken down. Alongside this, it also reported on government requests for user data and content removal and the extent to which it’s complied.
Facebook’s long had policies that forbid certain types of content – graphic sexual images, for example, or hate speech – but which have caused controversy at times. Pictures of breastfeeding mothers have been pulled from the site, for example, while pages that promote rape have remained.
“Today we are providing more detail and clarity on what is and is not allowed. For example, what exactly do we mean by nudity, or what do we mean by hate speech?” write head of global policy management Monika Bickert and deputy general counsel Chris Sonderby in a statement.
“While our policies and standards themselves are not changing, we have heard from people that it would be helpful to provide more clarity and examples, so we are doing so with today’s update.”
When it comes to nudity, Facebook admits that its policies “can sometimes be more blunt than we would like”. The new community standards document promises that photos of breastfeeding, and of post-mastectomy scars, are allowed – but “fully exposed buttocks” aren’t.
In the case of hate speech, the company’s now clarified that it’s ok to share examples as long as it’s in order to raise awareness, but that this must clearly be signaled. There’s also more information on bullying, making it clear that images altered to humiliate people and videos of physical bullying aimed at shaming the victim are now explicitly banned. Following in the footsteps of Reddit and Twitter, revenge porn is also specifically prohibited.
And there’s a new addition to the guidelines covering dangerous organizations, making it clear that terrorism and organized crime are out. This is an area that’s caused real problems for Facebook in the past, ever since videos of beheadings were permitted – then swiftly banned – in 2013. Now, says Facebook, even “Supporting or praising leaders of those same organizations, or condoning their violent activities, is not allowed.”
Internationally, Facebook confirms that it will take down content if it breaks the law in a particular country, even if it doesn’t violate community standards; but that the content may still be visible outside the affected region.
“In some countries, for example, it is against the law to share content regarded as being blasphemous,” write Bickert and Sonderby. “While blasphemy is not a violation of the Community Standards, we will still evaluate the reported content and restrict it in that country if we conclude it violates local law.”
Along with the expanded user guidelines, Facebook’s also released its Global Government Requests Report for the second half of 2014, showing that it restricted 9,707 pieces of content for violating local laws, 11 percent up on the first half of the year. There was a rise in requests from Turkey and Russia, and a fall in the number from Pakistan – and none at all from the US.
The number of government requests for account data increased marginally, from 34.946 to 35,051. The number of requests from India was up, at 5,473, with Facebook complying in only 45 percent of cases.
There was a decline in requests from the US – down from 15,433 in the first half to 14,274 in the second – and the company complied with 79 percent.
In the UK, requests for user data from the authorities slipped slightly from 2,619 to 2,366 in the second half of the year. Facebook complied with two thirds of the requests, and restricted three pieces of content.
“Moving forward, we will continue to scrutinize each government request and push back when we find deficiencies,” write Bickert and Sonderby.
“We will also continue to push governments around the world to reform their surveillance practices in a way that maintains the safety and security of their people while ensuring their rights and freedoms are protected.”