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In the weeks ahead, we’re going to begin allowing more items that people find newsworthy, significant, or important to the public interest — even if they might otherwise violate our standards.
Those were the words from a statement isued by Facebook on Friday.
The company said it intends to allow more images and stories without posing safety risks or showing graphic images to minors and others who do not want to see them.
It however said “we will work with our community and partners to explore exactly how to do this, both through new tools and approaches to enforcement”.
So, users of the social media site should be ready to see more contentious content, grahic words and images on their timelines, but the filtee bubble will always be there to ask if you want to see them or not.
“As always, our goal is to channel our community’s values, and to make sure our policies reflect our community’s interests” the company said, adding: “We’re looking forward to working closely with experts, publishers, journalists, photographers, law enforcement officials and safety advocates about how to do better when it comes to the kinds of items we allow. And we’re grateful for the counsel of so many people who are helping us try to get this right”
It explained further: “Observing global standards for our community is complex. Whether an image is newsworthy or historically significant is highly subjective. Images of nudity or violence that are acceptable in one part of the world may be offensive — or even illegal — in another. Respecting local norms and upholding global practices often come into conflict. And people often disagree about what standards should be in place to ensure a community that is both safe and open to expression”
This announcement follows intense internal debates over Donald Trump’s controversial posts to the social network, especially the ones calling for ban on all Muslim immigration.
According to BuzzFeed News, citing a Wall Street Journal report, some Facebook staffers argued that some of Republican presidential candidate’s comments violate the company’s rules about hate speech. But CEO Mark Zuckerberg determined that they should stay, telling Facebook employees that while Trump’s rhetoric qualified as hate speech, removing it could have far-reaching consequences.
It was gathered that several Muslim content moderators threatened to quit over the decision, saying that Zuckerberg was allowing Trump an exception to rules meant to protect users.