Press.voanews.com
Leaked Facebook
documents reveal the company walks a fine line between free speech and violent
or hateful content. The Guardian newspaper says it obtained the “more than 100
internal training manuals, spreadsheets and flowcharts” outlining how the
social media giant decides what content can stay and what gets taken down. According
to the documents, Facebook does allows certain posts that contain violent
language. For example, it’s OK to post “let’s beat up fat kids,” but prohibited
to post “someone shoot Trump.”
"People
commonly express disdain or disagreement by threatening or calling for violence
in generally facetious and unserious ways," reads one of the documents.
Images showing
non-sexual physical abuse or bullying of children as long as there is not a
"sadistic or celebratory element." Live streams of people harming
themselves is also allowed, the documents say because Facebook doesn’t want to
"censor or punish people in distress."
A Facebook
representative said the company’s top priority is keeping users safe. "We
work hard to make Facebook as safe as possible while enabling free speech,"
said Monica Bickert, Facebook’s head of global policy management. "This
requires a lot of thought into detailed and often difficult questions, and
getting it right is something we take very seriously."
Facebook has
been under increased pressure to prevent violent content from appearing, as a
stream of violent videos have been allowed to stay on the site for hours before
being deleted.
One particularly
gruesome video showed the brutal murder of Cleveland grandfather Robert Godwin
in a crime posted on Facebook Live. The company recently hired 3,000 more
humans to help curb objectionable material, and The Guardian documents reveal
the moderators are overwhelmed with requests to review material.
“These reviewers
will also help us get better at removing things we don't allow on Facebook,
like hate speech and child exploitation, “ Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg
wrote in a post about the hiring. “And we'll keep working with local community
groups and law enforcement who are in the best position to help someone if they
need it - either because they're about to harm themselves, or because they're
in danger from someone else.”
The company also
employs algorithms to mark objectionable content. Facebook also faces criticism
when it does take down material deemed offensive. Last fall, the company
removed an iconic photo showing a naked Vietnamese girl running from a napalm
attack during the Vietnam War. Facebook later allowed the image to be posted.