Facebook: news provider or social network?
A row over whether or not a disturbing video of a young child being beaten by an adult should be allowed by Facebook has raised questions about how the internet giant chooses to police its content.
The four minute video, showing a violent attack on a distressed infant by an adult woman, was filmed in Malaysia in 2011. The perpetrators have since been tried and convicted and the baby is safe and well.
However, the footage of the abuse, uploaded to Facebook, provoked complaints from other users who asked the company to remove it. Similar concerns were raised by Ceop – the UK police agency fighting online abuse.
In the end Facebook did take the page containing the video down briefly, but then reinstated it, arguing that its concern had only been to verify the identity of the owner who had uploaded the footage. The company said the pictures did not breach its own rules forbidding users from posting graphic violence.
News provider?
The decision to reinstate the page may seem surprising and incomprehensible to some, yet it cuts to the heart of the social media giant’s self-image.
Facebook sees itself as a news publisher – it is no coincidence that the list of updates from your friends, family and colleagues is called the “news feed”.
Seen through this lens, the decision on whether to allow a video showing such shocking abuse is, for Facebook, an editorial one.
Indeed their response on this video says as much:
“Just as TV news programmes often show upsetting images of atrocities, people can share upsetting videos on Facebook to raise awareness of actions or causes.”
It’s the kind of decision traditional news outlets face almost daily. In our coverage today of accusations of chemical weapon use by the Syrian Government we must decide how much to show of the suffering of the alleged victims.”
Yet, as you will see in our report tonight on the Facebook story, Channel 4 News would never broadcast horrific images of child beating at such length. While we’ve used a few seconds of the video, we do not feel four minutes of abuse could ever be justified even as a condemnation of such behaviour.
Furthermore, we are regulated by Ofcom with its strict guidelines and precedents on taste and decency – and fines for breaching them.
Facebook and other websites set their own rules – and it seems their emergence as news providers is throwing up some hefty challenges.
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