Yahoo Finance Facebook reveals its rules for deleting racist and violent posts
Facebook has published its rules for moderators on what content they should block on hate speech, racism and violence, showing the internal steps the company takes when removing posts that violate its community guidelines for the first time.
The social network has previously come under pressure for removing certain kinds content, leading to accusations of censorship, while at other times leaving up posts that could be considered hate speech. It is set to employ 7,500 moderators to monitor for offensive or extremist content.
Facebook also said it was extending its appeals process when content is removed, meaning that users who have posts removed for nudity or sexual activity, hate speech and violence can ask to have their content restored.
Facebook was recently criticised by US politicians for censoring right-wing commentators. Facebook was asked multiple questions by US senators and congressmen about alleged "liberal bias" after it blocked pro-Trump bloggers, Diamond and Silk.
Facebook head of product management Monika Bickert said: "Our policies are only as good as the strength and accuracy of our enforcement - and our enforcement isn't perfect. We make mistakes because our processes involve people, and people are not infallible."
Earlier this year, Facebook removed the page of far-right UK political group Britain First for repeated violation of its hate speech guidelines.
Facebook public policy manager Siobhan Cummisky told the Telegraph: "Facebook is a platform for all ideas, that includes political speech, however, everybody is subject to our community standards and you may see your page or profile removed. In these circumstances we don’t take that lightly, we do give people warnings."
Ms Cummisky said that around 99pc of terror content is removed "before anyone reports it to Facebook", with much of it caught by Facebook's technology before it is uploaded to the site.
The document reveals in detail some of the disturbing content that moderators may have to block, from cannibalism videos to child abuse, detailing specific kinds of videos that they may find and ban. One bullet point, for example, bans videos showing "tossing, rotating, or shaking of an infant too young to stand by their wrists, ankles, arms, legs, or neck."
The community guidelines detail for the first time some of the language that can lead to users having posts blocked on Facebook, such as slurs attacking minority or vulnerable groups or targetted expressions of disgust including "“gross”, “vile” or “disgusting”.
The code also states that Facebook will allow graphic content, such as animal abuse or even violent deaths, if they are newsworthy or to "to help people raise awareness about issues".
Facebook also blocks all nude genitalia, unless it is posted for medical or satirical purposes, such as being "photoshopped on a public figure".
