Washington: Facebook on Monday updated its ‘community standards’ guidelines, giving users more clarity on acceptability of posts relating to nudity, violence, hate speech and other contentious topics.
The 1.39 billion-member social media giant categorised “fully exposed buttocks†and “images of female breasts if they include the nipple†under a list of banned posts in their revamped community standards section.
Facebook said the new guidelines were aimed at bringing “clarity” over what can and cannot be posted on the website. The social media platform however, added that some nudity was permissible “for artistic purposes.”
While explaining its policies could “sometimes be more blunt than we would like,” Facebook said although some nudity may be for a campaign or artistic purpose, some users in different parts of the world may be sensitive to this type of content.
The social media giant added that the restrictions on the display of both nudity and sexual activity also applied to digitally created content unless the content is posted for educational, humorous or satirical purposes. Explicit images of sexual intercourse and verbal descriptions of sexual acts that go into vivid detail are also prohibited.
The new guidelines will also not allow any organisation to have a presence on the site if they engage in terrorist activity, organised crime, or promoting hate against others.
The website said it will also remove content expressing support for any groups involved in such behaviour. These restrictions came in the wake of increased social media activity from terror networks such as the Islamic State (IS).
The clarification comes as social media companies such as Facebook and Twitter Inc grapple with self-regulating technology that is as easily used for harassment and online bullying as it is for sharing sports videos and news articles.
“Having a voice is not some absolute state. It’s not the case that you either have a voice or you don’t,†Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said in a post on his Facebook page on Sunday.
Zuckerberg said Facebook was not actually changing any of its policies or standards, but merely providing more guidance.
“People rightfully want to know what content we will take down, what controversial content we’ll leave up, and why,†Zuckerberg wrote.
Other banned posts included direct threats, self-injury, dangerous organisations, bullying and harassment, attacks on public figures, sexual violence and exploitation.