Facebook updates content policy, adds 'blackface' photos to banned posts

In a bid to tackle posts containing racist references, Facebook has updated its content policy to ban 'blackface' photos on the social network. Facebook’s Community Standards now exclusively state that such content will be removed from the platform if it is used to target or mock people. As per reports, the move comes after the tech giant consulted over 60 outside experts. 

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Specific changes in Facebook’s Hate-speech policies

For the longest time, Facebook has included a ban on hate speech related to race, ethnicity, and religious affiliation along with other characteristics. But now they have revised to specify two more points that are applicable to Instagram. They are:

• caricatures of black people in the form of blackface
• references to Jewish people running the world or controlling major institutions such as media networks, the economy or the government

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Facebook’s content policy chief Monika Bickert has is reported to have said that such content has always gone against the spirit of the company’s hate-speech policies. However, she noted that it can be challenging to take concepts and then define them in a way that allows the content reviewers based around the world to consistently as well as fairly identify the violations. 

Meanwhile, when it comes to false information on the platform, Facebook also removed seven million posts in the second quarter that were deemed to have provided misinformation about COVID-19. The content removed included promotion of fake preventative measures and exaggerated cures for the novel coronavirus. The data was released as part of its sixth Community Standards Enforcement Report.

Image Credits: Shutterstock

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