PixabayGone are the days when women can’t #FreeTheNipple for fear of being blocked on Facebook for disobeying nudity restrictions.
Finally, Facebook’s pesky censorship rules are getting a much-needed revamp; the Community Standards restrictions will be lifted in cases where the content is newsworthy and relevant to the public interest, say company executives.
The social media platform will, ‘allow more images and stories without posing safety risks or showing graphic images to minors and others who do not want to see them.’
PexelsIn the statement, Joel Kaplan, VP Global Public Policy and Justin Osofsky, VP Global Operations & Media Partnerships said:
In the weeks ahead, we’re going to begin allowing more items that people find newsworthy, significant, or important to the public interest — even if they might otherwise violate our standards.
They plan to execute the changes through some rather vague ‘new tools and approaches to enforcement’, while keeping existing relationships with experts, publishers, journalists, photographers, law enforcement officials and safety advocates open.
PixabayFacebook is for turning, apparently. But the plan won’t be put into action for another few weeks, so until then you’re going to have to adhere to Facebook’s current community standards, which prohibit users from posting ‘digitally created’ depictions of nudity and sex ‘unless the content is posted for educational, humorous, or satirical purposes.
The social media platform has been repeatedly criticised for censorship of perfectly innocent instances of nudity, which seem to function in opposition to guidelines that allow NSFW education and humour.
As recently as yesterday, Facebook became a laughing stock when its minions censored an animation raising breast cancer awareness.
While I welcome the censorship policy overhaul, I can’t help but think Myspace Tom would have never let it get this far.
A former emo kid who talks too much about 8Chan meme culture, the Kardashian Klan, and how her smartphone is probably killing her. Francesca is a Cardiff University Journalism Masters grad who has done words for BBC, ELLE, The Debrief, DAZED, an art magazine you’ve never heard of and a feminist zine which never went to print.