Facebook publishes new management rules, learning from past experiences

NetEase technology News March 17, according to foreign media reports, once upon a time, the management of Facebook is relatively simple work. Because the users were mainly American college students, these users have at least the same cultural background. But now Facebook has 1.39 billion users spanning age, race, religion, gender identity and ethnicity, and it has been widely questioned whether Facebook can create rules that cater to everyone.

And that's why Facebook released its new management rules today, and the social networking site has not given any detailed rules for unacceptable behavior. However, the new guidelines will only prove that Facebook's management policy update will never end. As the world's largest social network, Facebook has learned a lot from the past, but it does not fully predict the future.

"Maintaining a unified standard to meet diverse global social needs is a challenge," Facebook executives said at a news conference. For the same share, different people may have different interpretations of the appropriate sharing, and a video that is shared as a joke may make another person feel frustrated. ”

New rules of management explicitly prohibit malicious speech, nude images, pornographic images, violent images, or threats of self-inflicted injury to others. As before, user accounts that violate these rules will be blocked. The updated Facebook management rules do not overhaul the past versions in principle, but explain the rules in more detail in the past to avoid controversy.

For example, Facebook's policy on nude images has not changed, but the new guidelines explicitly specify what types of images are classified as nude pictures. "The new policy is classified as nude for pictures showing the genitals or exposing the hips fully," he said. But the picture of breastfeeding or showing a scar on a mastectomy is not. "Earlier, because of Facebook's anti-nudity policy aroused the anger of breast cancer survivors, the photos after the operation were repeatedly deleted by Facebook." There is also a similar controversy over the prohibition of breastfeeding photos.

These fierce reactions have forced Facebook to add a detailed management policy. "Our policies are sometimes blunt and limit legitimate shared content," Facebook said. We have been trying to make these rules more in line with people's expectations. ”

In addition, the new policy allows users to freely use their own names, such as some of their nicknames. Facebook had a so-called "real name" scandal last year, with old management policies requiring users to use their real names when setting up their accounts. But after two weeks of intense fighting, Facebook has been rethinking its policies. At the time, Facebook's chief product officer, Chris Cox, apologized, "We have to solve this problem and deal with it on a policy level." ”

But for Facebook, in fact, for all social networks, it's almost impossible to make a perfect rule. Facebook cannot be as technical as any other problem. Today, Facebook still relies on reporting to deal with irregularities, and allows other Facebook users to determine whether the content really violates its guidelines. This is because a better algorithm cannot replace human sensitivity and judgment. (John)