Facebook has updated its community standards guidelines to clearly detail content it allows or bans on the social network.
Previously, the social network only provided vague “limitations” about banned content. But, now the new update offers detail information on what kinds of nudity are banned. This includes new bans on images that are “focusing in on fully exposed buttocks” and “images of female breasts if they include the nipple”.
The updated guidelines cover areas including nudity, hate speech, bullying and harassment, self-harm, sexual violence and exploitation, criminal activity, violence, graphic content and dangerous organizations.
“Every day, people around the world use Facebook to connect with family and friends, share information and express themselves. The conversations that happen here mirror the diversity of the more than one billion people who use Facebook, with people discussing everything from pets to politics. Our goal is to give people a place to share and connect freely and openly, in a safe and secure environment.” said Monika Bickert, Facebook head of global policy management, and Chris Sonderby, Deputy General Counsel in a news post.
“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?”.
Bickert said the updated guideline was intended to clear confusion about why some data takedown requests were rejected and that the social network will send the new guidelines to users who complain about others’ posts.
“We [would] send them a message saying we’re not removing it because it doesn’t violate our standards, and they would write in and say I’m confused about this, so we would certainly hear that kind of feedback,” she told the BBC.
“And people had questions about what we meant when we said we don’t allow bullying, or exactly what our policy was on terrorism.
“[For example] we now make clear that not only do we not allow terrorist organisations or their members within the Facebook community, but we also don’t permit praise or support for terror groups or their acts or their leaders, which wasn’t something that was detailed before.”
The new guidelines version runs to nearly 2,500 words, nearly three times as long as the previous one.
