What Facebook bans and what is OK on Facebook

Hundreds of Facebook staff are employed worldwide to enforce Facebook's rules on content. What is OK and what is not OK. They are assisted by software that will detect images displaying nudity, which is the most debated forbidden content.

Earlier this week, I was surprised to find an image of mine blocked - for the second time within relatively short time. A message was waiting for me when I logged in on Facebook, saying that a photo which was uploaded to a page that I administer - Naturist Association Thailand (https://www.facebook.com/NaturistAssociationThailand/) - had been removed. I was guided to the pages with the rules and asked if I would accept the ruling? Or if I wanted to delete the whole page?

Having humbly confirmed that I accepted the ruling and denied that I wanted the page to be deleted, I was informed that as a punishment, I would not be able to use Facebook or any related service like messenger for 24 hours. This, it was my understanding, was because I had previously had an image removed.

This was the first image, that I had removed:

I accept, that the sausage is visible. Yes also the one I am grilling.

This was the second image. that was removed and gave me a 24 hours on the bench:

Davendi

You will see Di and Dave from Australia who were having a good time at the pool at Barefeet Naturist Resort. Of course they had given their permission for the resort to take and upload the photo.

The rules, that Facebook requested me to read, explaining what was violated, stated:

We want people to feel safe when using Facebook. For that reason, we've developed a set of Community Standards, outlined below. These policies will help you understand what type of sharing is allowed on Facebook, and what type of content may be reported to us and removed. Because of the diversity of our global community, please keep in mind that something that may be disagreeable or disturbing to you may not violate our Community Standards.

People use Facebook to share their experiences and to raise awareness about issues that are important to them. This means that you may encounter opinions that are different from yours, which we believe can lead to important conversations about difficult topics. To help balance the needs, safety, and interests of a diverse community, however, we may remove certain kinds of sensitive content or limit the audience that sees it. Learn more about how we do that here.

Nudity
We restrict the display of nudity because some audiences within our global community may be sensitive to this type of content - particularly because of their cultural background or age. In order to treat people fairly and respond to reports quickly, it is essential that we have policies in place that our global teams can apply uniformly and easily when reviewing content. As a result, our policies can sometimes be more blunt than we would like and restrict content shared for legitimate purposes. We are always working to get better at evaluating this content and enforcing our standards.

We remove photographs of people displaying genitals or focusing in on fully exposed buttocks. We also restrict some images of female breasts if they include the nipple, but we always allow photos of women actively engaged in breastfeeding or showing breasts with post-mastectomy scarring.

So looking back at the image, I do realise that it is possible to see Di's nipple. It is difficult to see, that this one nipple in profile could disturb anybody, but rules are rules I suppose. I also explains why there is an abundance of naked breasts in full frontal with a little yellow flower placed in photoshop over the nipple, which are not removed. They are by the same rule decent, I suppose, never mind how leering and sexually explicit the look on the owners face suggests otherwise.

 

I would not have started writing this if I had not within the 24 hours, that I was banned from commenting or interacting with Facebook, encountered one of the most deeply disturbing images I have ever seen uploaded to Facebook. The image - there were indeed two of the same victim from two different angles - showed a murdered young women who was tortured in the most gruesome way, that I could imagine.

I have left the Facebook ID number of the image if anyone wants to follow the subject. Apart from the fact that her nipples are showing, how can anyone in their right mind find an image like this acceptable and the image of a happy couple drinking their afternoon tea at the pool unacceptable?

 

Related Articles

Responses