Secret rules for deleting photos by Facebook, such as "Throat pictures of celebrities through" are clearly revealed by internal document exposure

ByThomas Hawk

Facebook uploads sexual or violent content and content that actually harm human beings or that directly threaten public safetyDelete and regulationdoing. Prior to winning the Pulitzer PrizeDelete "Vietnamese girl"As I had done before, although it may be difficult to judge "content to delete", it is clear that Facebook's internal materials are leaked and the content actually deleted is selected according to the rules It is becoming.

International - Facebook's secret rules of deletion
http://international.sueddeutsche.de/post/154543271930/facebooks-secret-rules-of-deletion

Although Facebook does not disclose all criteria for deleting contents, SZ-Magazin got a part of private Facebook account materials, and extracted some rules from among them. It is edited in an illustration style rather than publishing the in-house document as it is, but this is to protect the information source.

The logo depicted in the lower right corner of the image below is used as a symbol of the department that sets up deletion rules within Facebook. It is said that Facebook shows a posture to take action against inappropriate contents such as hate speech. The rules enacted here are based on the German-based media companyBertelsmannOperations are entrusted to an external service provider such as arvato under the control, and employees of external companies are learning whether to delete the contents by receiving workshops.


The deletion rule of the content that Facebook has enacted is as follows.

◆ Hate speech is subject to deletion
Facebook deletes discriminative remarks on specific "protection categories" as "hate speech". Specifically, "gender" "religion" "nationality" "sexual identity" "race" "ethnicity" "Sexually oriented"Discriminatory remarks based on" physical / mental disorder, serious illness "are deleted. Also, in the same page as subcategories "age (young people, elderly people, teenagers etc)" "Employment situation (unemployed, teacher, doctor, pilot, astronaut etc)" "Continent (Europe, South America, Asia , America, Australia, etc.) "Social status (wealth, poverty, middle class, etc.)" "appearance (blonde,Brunette, Tall, low, fat, thin) "" Your political party (Republican, Democratic Party, Socialist Party, Communist Party, Revolutionary Party etc) "is also listed. Subcategory belongs to "Unprotected category".


◆ Deletion criteria change with combination of categories
The "protected category" that Facebook has enacted may change to a different category by combining with other protection categories. For example, taking an "Irish woman" as an example, two protection categories of "nationality" and "gender" are applied, and if someone posts "Irish women are stupid", it is "as an attack based on a protection category" Posts will be deleted. On the other hand, when a protection category is combined with an unprotected category, it changes to an "unprotected category", so the post "Ireland's teenager is a stupid" will not be deleted.


◆ Guidelines for allowed and unacceptable sentences
Several example sentences are listed in the item of hate speech in the company document. For example, the term "immigrant" means that there are cases where it is not subject to deletion, as a new "sub-protection category" is applied in response to complaints from Germany. For example, "Post Muslim" posts are deleted, but "Fucking Immigrants" are allowed. However, "migrants are dirty" is permitted, but "migrants are dirt" will be deleted.


◆ Self-injurious behavior is not subject to deletion
Pictures of self-injurious acts such as tattoos (upper left), pierced (lower left), anorexic women (upper right), seriously injured children (lower right) are not deleted. However, posting together texts that encourage suicide / self-injurious behavior will be subject to deletion. In consideration to make it possible to ask for help on suicide prevention on Facebook, it is stated that "users who post self-harming photos should be notified of the hot line phone number to prevent suicide" It is.


◆ Bullying is subject to deletion
Creating a ranking based on appearance or personality is considered bullying and will be deleted. For example, if you attach a text like "Who is the hottest? I am waiting for comments!" To the picture of three women who stand on the beach, it will be subject to deletion. If these guidelines are applied strictly, discriminatory remarks for Donald Trump 's women should also be deleted.


◆ ridicule of people who urinate pictures to delete
In the item of bullying, it is stated that "menstruation, urination, vomiting, humiliating pictures of people who are bowel movements are not allowed". In the picture shown on the left is a picture like "Ha ha ha! He seems to have trouble" There is a caption that is on the middle vomiting In the picture of "a woman you are an adult, it is disgusting!" And a picture of a woman whose right buttock is red stained is "Lend someone a sanitary napkin for her (Laugh) "there.


◆ Photos that have room for discussion are not deleted
Facebook has enacted rules to delete pictures finely, but sometimes you can not delete photos even in the gray case without limit. Any of the following pictures can be applied to "bullying", but it is an example that can not be judged because there is no caption. For example, whether the picture of a woman on the far right is "humiliating" is for discussion.


◆ Distinguished celebrities
Facebook prohibits "attacks on celebrities", but celebrities are "people who are in office", "people with over 100,000 followers at SNS" "employed by broadcasting organizations and news media And who are also disseminating the official statement "" people who have been reported more than five times in the past two years "are stipulated.


◆ Vomiting photographs of celebrities are excluded from deletion
"Menstruation, urination, vomiting, humiliating photos of people who are defecating" is prohibited by Facebook guidelines, but if those who posted these pictures are persons categorized as "celebrities" , Pictures are not eligible for deletion. For example, it is a singer of Black-Eyed PeasFergie, Incontinence during the concert, photos of one former direction singer Harry Edward Stiles vomiting, photos urinating in the public by actor Owen Wilson were uploaded to Facebook Although there was a thing, it is described as "menstruation of celebrities, urination, vomiting, bowel movements should be abandoned".