The Guardian was able to put their hands on Facebook’s secret rulebook, including policies guiding moderators on what content to allow — and what content not to allow — when it comes to sensitive topics:
The Guardian has seen more than 100 internal training manuals, spreadsheets and flowcharts that give unprecedented insight into the blueprints Facebook has used to moderate issues such as violence, hate speech, terrorism, pornography, racism and self-harm. There are even guidelines on match-fixing and cannibalism.
This is not just any internal document that was leaked here: it’s a “bible”, defining principles that decide how the 1.3 million posts shared every minute on Facebook are shown — or not — to the 2 billion users of the platform.
In this pretty incredible article, you will learn:
- About the ethical, philosophical & legal principles underlying some of these guidelines.
- What the difference is between individuals with more than 100,000 followers and private individuals.
- Why Facebook is not yet regulated in the same way as mainstream broadcasters and publishers.
For instance, here is an excerpt from Facebook’s policy about threats of violence:
Credit: The Guardian
This is certainly the most fascinating article we have shared with you so far in our Long Reads section: definitely a must-read.
What’s in it for Social Media Managers: as individuals who spend a significant amount of time on Facebook, this article implicitly suggests that we, the users, have an increasingly important role in contributing to the moderation of what’s getting published on the most popular social network in the world.
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