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The Pulitzer Prize-winning 'Napalm Girl' image is just one past victim of Facebook's over-censorship - Img src: Time |
It’s clear why Facebook has released this statement now,
surfacing as it does in the wake of recent controversies surrounding the site’s
censorship of images. In September, we saw a furore as a clumsy attempt to apply Facebook’s
anti-nudity policy in a strictly uniform manner led moderators to repeatedly remove
the Pulitzer Prize-winning image ‘Napalm Girl’ from the site. Facebook
subsequently apologised and restored the image. But the hot water beckoned again as, just last week, moderators removed an
educational video which explained to women how to check for breast cancer. The
video represented breasts using pink, cartoon circles. Uproars and apologies once again ensued. So, as a sign of
good faith, and surely in an attempt to re-establish control, Facebook sent out
the statement on Friday, which reads: “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.”
That’s the struggle Facebook has, and which it’s now openly talking
about: in order to reach a just and legitimate decision in every case regarding
whether or not to allow an image on its site, subjectivity needs a place in the
application of the rules – but, maybe in equal measure, the rules need to be followed
at the same time. Exactly how strictly so is indeed a fine balance; and, as Facebook
tells us, it’s something that’s going to ebb and flow with temporal, political,
social and regional contexts – because so too do the norms of acceptability
therein.
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