Facebook to allow graphic and violent post it deems newsworthy

Facebook to allow graphic and violent posts it deems 'newsworthy'

The change follows intense censorship criticims CREDIT: REUTERS
Cara McGoogan
24 OCTOBER 2016 • 1:19PM
Facebook has relaxed its censorship rules for graphic posts that are deemed to be in the public interest following intense criticism over its removal of newsworthy posts.

The change could mean that videos deemed potentially disturbing will be allowed to remain on the social network.

"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," said Joel Kaplan and Justin Osofsky, Facebook's vice presidents.

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Facebook has come under fire recently for censoring posts deemed important, such as the Vietnam war "napalm girl" photo and a breast cancer awareness video.

Aftenposten's front page following Facebook's censorship of the "Napalm girl" image CREDIT: AFTENPOSTEN
The social network reinstated the Terror of War image, which was posted by Norway's largest newspaper Aftenposten last month, after the editor slammed Mark Zuckerberg for not recognising his role as "the world's most powerful editor".

Zuckerberg said at the time, "An image of a naked child would normally be presumed to violate our Community Standards, and in some countries might even qualify as child pornography.

"In this case, we recognise the history and global importance of this image in documenting a particular moment in time."

Facebook also apologised after it removed a video clip posted by the Swedish Cancer Society of animated women with pink circles representing their breasts in an explanatory video about checking for suspicious lumps. The company reinstated the clip, as it did with the live video of Philando Castile being shot, which it claimed was removed by a glitch.

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Following the recent swathes of criticism, Facebook said it would introduce "new tools and approaches to enforcement" that allow sensitive images and videos to be posted to the site if they are in the public interest.

"Our intent is 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," said Kaplan and Orsofsky.

Facebook previously admitted that its "solutions won't always be perfect", but said it would try to improve its policies over sensitive posts.

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