Facebook Moves to Curb Spread of Terror, Hate Speech

Facebook said Monday it won’t allow the social network to be used to promote terrorism or hate speech as it unveiled a wide-ranging update of its “community standards.”

The new guidelines give more clarity on acceptable posts relating to violence, hate speech, nudity and other contentious topics.

The new document said Facebook will not allow a presence from groups advocating “terrorist activity, organized criminal activity or promoting hate.”

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The new guidelines say Facebook will take down “graphic images when they are shared for sadistic pleasure or to celebrate or glorify violence.”

On terrorist or criminal organizations, Facebook also said it would not tolerate “supporting or praising leaders of those same organizations, or condoning their violent activities.”

Facebook said meanwhile that nudity would be banned in many cases but allowed for images of breastfeeding, art or discussions of medical conditions.

“These standards are designed to create an environment where people feel motivated and empowered to treat each other with empathy and respect,” said a blog post from Facebook global policy chief Monika Bickert and deputy general counsel Chris Sonderby.

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“It’s a challenge to maintain one set of standards that meets the needs of a diverse global community,” the blog post said.

“This is particularly challenging for issues such as hate speech. Hate speech has always been banned on Facebook, and in our new community standards, we explain our efforts to keep our community free from this kind of abusive language.”

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[Editor’s Note: See here for more on Facebook’s “hate” policies.]