Facebook Loves Photos Of Your Crushed Heads!

A document has been leaked to Gawker.com by one of Facebook’s outsourcing companies, oDesk which reveals what guide lines Facebook has in place for removing flagged photos. And they have come to face a lot criticism.

Here is a list of photo content Facebook will allow:

• Same sex kissing
• Groping
• Foreplay
• Crushed limbs/heads
• Deep flesh wounds
• Graphic images of animals in a hunting/ food processing or natural environment
• People using marijuana
• Cartoon faeces, urine, and spit

Here is a list of photos banned by Facebook…

• People who are “drunk or unconscious”
• Female nipples (mens are allowed)
• Breast feeding women who are not covered
• Naked private parts (fair enough)
• Butt cracks
• Urine, faeces, vomit, semen, pus and ear wax

They Got It Wrong

It seems to me that Facebook has some of its priorities wrong. They will allow deep flesh wounds but not a photo of a mother tenderly feeding her baby? What’s that about?! One is a natural, loving action, one of a gross, bloody, vomit  educing  photo of blood and injury, it just seems outrageous that they will allow the extreme graphic one but not the natural loving one. Of course, they have also faced a lot of criticism. Obviously, mothers have taken to the protest of their right to breastfeed and be proud of it.

Key Take Away

Facebook really needs to re-evaluate its photo content guidelines if they think some of this content  is more appropriative than others. The fact that they allow bodily fluids in cartoon form but not real life, maybe just wipe it off the board completely? Allow mothers to be proud of what they can do to bring up their children. Cruelty to animals is not something that maybe vegetarians or vegans will want to see yet it’s allowed to be shared but the top of someone’s backside is banned? Facebook will only face more and more scutiny over this so it will be interesting to see what they say and do about it now it’s been leaked.

~Articles: https://apps.facebook.com/theguardian/technology/2012/feb/21/facebook-nudity-violence-censorship-guidelines

~http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/17133281