London: Facebook has removed a video of a woman being beheaded and said it would use a broader set of criteria to determine when such videos are permitted on the site.
The backdown came a day after a public outcry over news reports that Facebook had lifted a ban on images of graphic violence while still maintaining a ban on other types of images, such as women breastfeeding. Facebook had said on Monday that videos such as that of a masked man beheading a woman in Mexico were permitted on its site so long as the content was posted in a manner intended for users to “condemn” such acts rather than celebrate them.
David Cameron, the British prime minister, condemned the decision, saying Facebook would have to explain to “worried parents” why it was allowing children to view such material.
The charity Hostage UK said the policy would cause “acute distress” to family and friends affected by cases of kidnapping and murder. “The public are well aware of the brutalities committed, and a public showing adds nothing other than to cause further unimaginable suffering.” On Tuesday, Facebook said enforcement of its policy would be strengthened and the Mexico beheading video had been removed as a consequence.
“When we review content that is reported to us, we will take a more holistic look at the context surrounding a violent image or video,” Facebook said in a statement. “Second, we will consider whether the person posting the content is sharing it responsibly, such as accompanying the video or image with a warning and sharing it with an age-appropriate audience.”
While Facebook polices its site to remove nudity, hate speech and other forbidden content, the company must also make a judgement about when certain graphic images, such as video of a terrorist attack, are in the public interest versus being shared for “sadistic pleasure”.
Facebook acknowledged on Tuesday that its previous approach, which permitted the video of the woman’s killing in Mexico to remain on its site, was flawed.
“Based on these enhanced standards we have re-examined recent reports of graphic content and have concluded that this content improperly and irresponsibly glorifies violence. For this reason we have removed it,” the company said.
