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Facebook has decided that people should be
able to post and watch whatever videos they want. Back in May, Facebook decided
that people should not post videos of people being beheaded onto the site. Last
week ,a video of a woman getting beheaded surfaced on the site and this sparked
outrage. Users pleaded with Facebook to remove the video from the site. The BBC
launched an investigation that lead to the UK Prime Minister Prime Minister David
Cameron, who tweeted that the content could have a negative impact on those who
see it.
The “Rights and
Responsibilities" page on Facebook lists this warning to users under the
"Safety" section: "You will not post content that: is hate
speech, threatening, or pornographic; incites violence; or contains nudity or
graphic or gratuitous violence." While talking to a Facebook representative
the BBC reported that: "People are sharing this video on Facebook to
condemn it. If the video were being celebrated, or the actions in it
encouraged, our approach would be different.
Since some people object to graphic video of this nature, we
are working to give people additional control over the content they see. This
may include warning them in advance that the image they are about to see
contains graphic content."
On October 22 at
5:45pm BBC News Tech Editor Leo Kelion confirmed that a warning has now been
added to the aforementioned video of the woman's beheading. The warning reads:
"WARNING! This video contains extremely graphic content and may be
upsetting." At 7:55 pm Facebook
removed the video.. Facebook said it will "strengthen" the
enforcement of its policies when it comes to graphic or violent content. The
post reads:
First, 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, and will remove content that celebrates violence. 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. 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.
Being a liberal person who believes in freedom of speech and expression, I can understand the sensitivity surrounding a video of a person's death, let alone beheading. I believe that a video of someone losing their life is crossing the line, no matter what context it's in. With Facebook's popularity, it is very easy for a child to access the footage. And, on top of it all, the person's no longer here to argue the uses of the images.
ReplyDeleteThis is a classic example of the power of connectivity by the Internet; a bad video gone viral. This is also another classic example of how vauge the first clause of the First Amendment in our Constitution. By Freedom of Speech, what does that entail? Freedom of Speech could reach as far as posting a video of someone being beheaded.There have been many instances where I have seen questionable content posted on Facebook. Is is THEIR social media site, so is it covered under the First Amendment?
ReplyDeleteChloe