Facebook
"It's important that everyone on our apps feels safe to engage and connect with their communities," the company statement reads. "We do not allow bullying and harassment on our platform, but when it does happen, we act."
The social media platform released its announcement on National Bullying Prevention and Awareness Day in the U.S. The company writes that this decision was made after consultations with multiple journalists, politicians, and content creators, as well as experts and advocates working on behalf of women, the LGBTQIA+ community, free speech, and human rights.
The new policies include a range of updated protections. First, coordinated harassment efforts against "individuals at heightened risk of offline harm, for example victims of violent tragedies or government dissidents" will be removed, even if the posts don't violate other policies.
Targeted harassment is often used to silence those who speak out against their government, according to Facebook. Under the new policies, state-sponsored propaganda and harassment networks, meaning pages or groups coordinating attacks against dissidents, will also be removed. In the past, these groups have reportedly driven activists from the platform.
Harassment against any user will be removed if it is posted in comments on the user's own profile or posts, or if it is sent to the user via direct message. This removal "will require additional information or context" provided by the user.
Public figures, including politicians, activists, journalists, and celebrities, will now be given additional harassment protections, as well. The new policy stipulates that "severe sexualizing content,... Derogatory, sexualized photoshopped images... content depicting individuals in the process of bodily functions", and attacks against public figures' physical appearance will be removed.
Specifically, the company says that "unwanted" sexualized content will be removed.
"Because what is 'unwanted' can be subjective, we'll rely on additional context from the individual experiencing the abuse to take action," the company said.
These new protections for public figures are similar to what is already in place for everyday users.
The new policies also establish protections for "involuntary public figures".
"Becoming a public figure isn't always a choice, and that this fame can increase the risk of bullying and harassment - particularly if the person comes from an underrepresented community, including women, people of color or the LGBTQ community," the tech giant writes.
Facebook recently came under fire for reportedly covering up research showing the damage its apps can have on users' mental health, particularly teen users. Whistleblower Frances Haugen also told Congress that Facebook doesn't do enough to address disinformation because it drives up user engagement.
Perhaps most alarmingly, Haugen argues that Facebook's algorithms could be stoking ethnic violence, with Facebook posts being blamed in part for a conflict in Ethiopia between the government and Tigray rebels. Zecharias Zelalem, a journalist covering the conflict, told NPR that posts by prominent accounts would "incite mob violence, ethnic clashes, crackdowns on independent press or outspoken voices."
