Facebook updated its community standards to allow for users to call for “high-severity violence” against sexual offenders, including death threats.
In its “Do not post” section on its website, Facebook changed its standards in a July update to allow an exception to its “Violence and Incitement” standard for individuals “described as having carried out violent crimes or sexual offenses, wherein criminal/predator status has been established by media reports, market knowledge of news event, etc.”
The exception allows users to make: “Threats that could lead to death” against alleged violent and sexual offenders. Facebook does not require for the threats to be against persons who have been convicted under criminal law.
Facebook did not return the Washington Examiner‘s request for comment at the time of publication. In May, the company said: “We’ve always banned individuals or organizations that promote or engage in violence and hate, regardless of ideology.”
“The process for evaluating potential violators is extensive, and it is what led us to our decision to remove these accounts,” the Facebook spokesperson added.
The standards change by Facebook comes as federal prosecutors charge financier Jeffrey Epstein with sex trafficking and conspiracy.
Southern District of New York prosecutors said Epstein “enticed and recruited, and caused to be enticed and recruited, minor girls” as young as 14 in order to “engage in sex acts with him.”
UPDATE:
“We don’t allow credible threats of violence against anyone. We do allow some speech that calls for certain forms of violence, such as calls for the death penalty for criminals or support for military action against terrorists. We have updated our Community Standards to be more clear about this,” Facebook spokesperson said in a statement to the Washington Examiner.
Facebook updated their community standards again saying the language they added earlier in July was “imprecise.”
“The language we previously used to describe our policies against violence and incitement was imprecise. We have since replaced it to more clearly explain the policy and underlying rationale,” the Facebook said in an update to their “Violence and Incitement” community standards.
“In some cases, we see aspirational or conditional threats directed at terrorists and other violent actors (e.g. Terrorists deserve to be killed), and we deem those non credible absent specific evidence to the contrary,” the company said.
