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Leaked documents 'show Facebook's secret censorship rules'

The Guardian has published documents which claim to reveal what posts are and aren’t allowed on Facebook.

REPORTERS IN THE UK say they’ve gained access to Facebook’s rules that decide what is and isn’t allowed on the social media site.

Yesterday, the Guardian published slides and documents allegedly circulated to Facebook staff members which give guidance on what posts are allowed on the site.

The documents also give the reasons as to why employees should or shouldn’t delete posts that contain nudity, bullying, violence, hatred, terrorism, racism or mental health issues.

Some of the comments that aren’t permitted include:

  • “Someone shoot Trump” (because he’s a head of state)
  • “#Stab and become the fear of the Zionist”

While comments that are permitted include:

  • “Kick a person with red hair”
  • “Let’s beat up fat kids”
  • “Little girl needs to keep to herself before daddy breaks her face” (because it’s considered ‘not credible’)

According to the Guardian:

  • Imagery of animal abuse can be shared on the site in general
  • Facebook will allow users to livestream attempts to self-harm because it “doesn’t want to censor or punish people in distress who are attempting suicide”
  • Facebook had to assess over 50,000 potential cases of revenge porn and ‘sextortion’ on the site in January.

The social media giant has previously been criticised for its censorship of posts, in particular when it removed an iconic shot of a naked girl escaping a napalm bombing during the Vietnam War.

That incident among others raised questions about how the site determines what posts are allowed, but have up until now remained secret.

Monika Bickert, ‎Facebook’s head of global policy management, told the Guardian that Facebook had over two billion users and that it was difficult to decide what to allow.

“We have a really diverse global community and people are going to have very different ideas about what is ok to share. No matter where you draw the line there are always going to be some grey areas. For instance, the line between satire and humour and inappropriate content is sometimes very grey. It is very difficult to decide whether some things belong on the site or not,” she said.

But she maintained that Facebook did have a responsibility to keep their users safe: “It’s absolutely our responsibility to keep on top of it. It’s a company commitment.”

Last October, Facebook said that they would allow more graphic newsworthy posts to be shared on the social network if they were of ‘public interest’.

“We’re going to begin allowing more items that people find newsworthy, significant, or important to public interest – even if they might otherwise violate our standards,” Facebook vice presidents Joel Kaplan and Justin Osofsky said.

Read: Facebook apologises for another censorship slip, as it promises more graphic news

Read: Facebook does u-turn on censoring ‘napalm girl’ photo

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26 Comments
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    Mute Nollaig Elliot
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    May 22nd 2017, 7:20 PM

    Permanently deleted my FB account last November and it was the best thing I did. I felt it was a complete waste of my time and was becoming more and more of a negative place. Now it’s great when I meet people cause I don’t know everything about them and makes for great conversation.

    201
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    Mute James Mahon
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    May 22nd 2017, 8:33 PM

    @Nollaig Elliot: The alternative is to be friends on FB with your actual friends! As opposed to the 500 or so that you had!

    35
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    Mute Nollaig Elliot
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    May 22nd 2017, 9:04 PM

    @James Mahon: Very true James, it got out of hand though. I traveled a fair bit over the years and it was convenient. However, after I finished a big trip last year it was always my plan to pull the plug then.

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    See 3 more replies ▾
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    Mute Anita R
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    May 22nd 2017, 9:16 PM

    @James Mahon: Totally agree. Did a big cull of my FB “friends ” recently and it’s great.
    Think it’s a good place for joining groups that have similar interests etc.

    5
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    Mute Shane Carroll
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    May 22nd 2017, 11:52 PM

    @Nollaig Elliot: I find it very useful to follow interests of mine, get notified of events I might be interested in and get access to news which might otherwise not cross my path.
    I do know of people who use it to post a lot of what I would consider useless information but that’s their choice and I can easily avoid that if I want!
    Bottom line is it’s a communication tool and how you use it is up to you.

    7
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    Mute Colin Preston James
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    May 23rd 2017, 11:06 AM

    @Nollaig Elliot: I did something similar, last november it was so bad, i have under 20 US facebook friends yet all their posts were saturating my timeline so i turned off all post notifications and have opened the app about 4 times since then to reply to some things that are commented on in my posts taken from twitter and youtube, i use facebook messenger frequently and because that’s a separate app i don’t have to worry about seeing stupid posts from people anymore.

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    Mute Davin Ryan
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    May 22nd 2017, 7:06 PM

    About as arbitrary as The Journals rules so…

    154
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    Mute Jack Cassady
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    May 22nd 2017, 7:49 PM

    I’d love to see the Guardian’s moderation policy.
    ‘If you’re not of liberal persuasion do not enter this site’

    43
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    Mute SteveW
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    May 22nd 2017, 7:16 PM

    In most cases trolls are ridiculed and put down by decent people on forums such as Facebook. A self censoring mechanism that we have in society already. The problem like they have now in Germany is that when governments get involved they usually infringe on free speech. A slippery slope indeed.

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    Mute The Magnificent Hog
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    May 22nd 2017, 6:57 PM

    Suckerburg and his cronies support hate speech. That is a fact.

    67
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    Mute Jamie
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    May 22nd 2017, 7:23 PM

    Deleted Facebook yesterday.Best thing EVER!!!!but I’ve nowhere to post or tell people so il post it here on a Facebook article

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    Mute ktsiwot
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    May 22nd 2017, 7:33 PM

    @The Magnificent Hog: It is not a personal thing, it just makes money.

    13
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    Mute Baz Breen
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    May 22nd 2017, 9:12 PM

    Facebook is a private commercial entity they can do as they please. It’s a very successful business model that works. Some people have the mind set that it’s a public service.

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    Mute Austin Rock
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    May 22nd 2017, 9:33 PM

    @Baz Breen: No commercial entity can do as they please all are bound by the laws of each and every country they operate in. Facebooks private policy etc etc is irrelevant if it violates the law, or a persons human right, which is why they are so careful as indeed is the Journal no one is exempt,

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    Mute gregory
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    May 22nd 2017, 8:02 PM

    Animal abuse is ok by facebook. you know what to do facebook users – delete ur account.

    36
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    Mute Jonny
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    May 22nd 2017, 7:22 PM

    The guardian reported this earlier this morning, breaking news from the journal

    18
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    Mute Jack Cassady
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    May 22nd 2017, 7:31 PM

    @Jonny:
    The article mentions the fact that the Guardian published this yesterday.
    This one’s an exclusive for people who only read the Journal.

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    Mute The Grand O'Malley
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    May 22nd 2017, 8:31 PM

    Off topic but Edward Snowden said that if you want privacy then you need to throw away all your devices and start living in a cave.

    Delete your Facebook and stop shoving those screens into your babies faces

    23
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    Mute Tony Daly
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    May 22nd 2017, 8:42 PM

    @The Grand O’Malley: there are techniques to maintaining privacy on Facebook and not just through privacy settings.

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    Mute Rusty Balls
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    May 22nd 2017, 8:55 PM

    Perhaps the Journal could be just as clear in explaining why it bans people…???

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    Mute Tony Daly
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    May 22nd 2017, 8:43 PM

    There is life and there is Facebook.

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    Mute Just Some Guy
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    May 22nd 2017, 7:55 PM

    Be careful what you say on facebook. I got a three day ban on facebook for calling someone an idiot. Plenty of snowflakes on facebook. Facebook is getting pathetic each day

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    Mute Tony Daly
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    May 22nd 2017, 8:41 PM

    @Just Some Guy: I feel your pain. Not being able call peole “idiots” is such an impairment of freedom of expression. Calling people “idiots” helps them to accept their errors. It is a highly effective and persuasive technique and develops a point very nicely.

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    Mute Rusty Balls
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    May 22nd 2017, 10:14 PM

    @Tony Daly: Very true, I’ve also had posts deleted because someone with a delicate disposition found them offensive. Whips & chains I could understand, maybe even blood and guts, but mention anything about a certain Middle Eastern religion and certain people loose their collective minds… Incidentally I didn’t say a word.

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    Mute Adolf Hitler
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    May 22nd 2017, 9:01 PM

    The main issue with Facebook and its content is who views it. Pictures of difficult or upsetting themes are good as they are thought provoking . The issue is too many children lie about their age and view images not suitable for them

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    Mute cheeky smurfette
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    May 26th 2017, 3:05 PM

    i got banned 3 times fro speaking the truth about certain people

    4
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