Facebook to introduce new harassment policy to guard public figures

Social media giant, Facebook has revealed plans to expand its harassment policies to remove harmful content. The firm undertook the move following congressional testimony from a whistleblower who criticized Facebook for not doing enough to prohibit harmful information.

Under this new policy, Facebook will prohibit any content that lowers or sexualizes high profile people, elected officials, celebrities, or others. Similar material regarding private individuals is already prohibited under existing standards.

Apart from this, an additional change will add more security from harassment to government dissidents, journalists and human rights activists globally.

Social media harassment has been used many times against journalists and activists to stop them from raising their voice and opinion.

According to California-based firm, Menlo Park all coordinated harassment, in which a group of people work together to abuse another user, will be prohibited. All users will be affected by this change.

In a blog post, Antigone Davis, Facebook's head of global safety, said that they do not accept bullying and harassment on the Facebook platform, but when it does happen, they respond.

The firm applies the changes after rising criticism of the company's handling of misinformation, hate speech and negative content.

Concerns regarding harassment vary from teens harassing one other on Instagram to groups tied to authoritarian countries systematically abusing journalists and dissidents.

Frances Haugen, Former Facebook Data Scientist, testified before Congress last week that the business has done too little to address its role in the spread of dangerous information and frequently prioritizes profit over the interests of its users.

Days later, the company announced that it would introduce new features designed to protect kids, including encouraging them to take a break from the platform.

Moreover, celebrities, even those who earn financially from Facebook and Instagram, have been vocal in their criticisms.

Source Credit - https://www.usnews.com/news/business/articles/2021-10-13/facebook-expands-harassment-policy-to-protect-public-figures