Facebook allows animal abuse

[Tobi]

....For "awareness" purposes apparently. What are deemed to be "extremely disturbing" photos of animal torture and mutilation, it appears are to be marked "disturbing". However if the images/video content is said to be celebratory or sadistic, they get pulled off.

http://www.computerworld.com/article/319...osted.html

Okay who is doing the discriminating? Overwhelmed moderators who have to abide by the rule manual because Facebook is scared of being non-PC and quashing free speech!
The excuse apparently is that there are so many millions of posts and not enough moderators, so more are being recruited. Yet each moderator has on average 10 seconds to review a post and make a decision....and all the while they are shackled by the "rule book"!

Meanwhile human nudity (re: digital images) is strictly not allowed. Nor are sexual images.

So it appears we are supposed to consider sex and nudity more horrendous than animal abuse?!

Facebook also allows images of child abuse to be posted so long as they are not sexual!
Tell that to a six year old who gets beaten black and blue for entertainment purposes! Facebook also allows videos of abortions but there must be no nudity in the footage!

This is shocking and sickening and something is very VERY wrong here!

I actually have no time for Facebook. I keep my account only because it is the only way of conversing with a good old friend who now lives in the Far East. Otherwise I would no longer have anything to do with it.

[Catherine]

I think Facebook and the whole social media phenomena has grown so fast that moderators are overwhelmed. They never anticipated all the different things people would post. I doubt they have any really experienced staff moderating the posts. Their rules about what is allowed can't keep up with what is being posted.

They need to rethink their policy on animal abuse and child abuse and other forms of violence. Until they can get on top of this we will need to be the watchers. I wonder if it is possible for them to sort it out. First they need to rethink their rules and guidelines. Hiring more staff is a start, but I wonder if they hired enough people.

I use  Facebook because it is my only connection to some people. It has its uses, but we need to pressure them about animal abuse. I should report things more often. I wonder if their staff can keep up with the reports they receive. It is not a job I would want.

I just came across an article about Facebook.

http://news.google.ca/news/url?sr=1&ct2=...ue&insrc=1

What do you think? We all know it has problems. Is it broken and can it be fixed? I don't know.

[LPC]

Good article, Catherine. As I mentioned on previous occasions, I became strongly opposed to Facebook quite few years ago, after being bombarded with mundane feeds from people with whom I had little in common. As I hid their feeds, Facebook kept on proposing more people! In the end, I ended my personal account, with great satisfaction. My sons keep in contact via email and phone; they send any photos as attachments to emails.

My elder son closed his Facebook a little before me. Neither of us has ever regretted the decision. It is easy to send emails and if there several people who need to be told news, the email can easily be sent to multiple recipients.

Facebook exists to make money. The young man who created the Facebook money-making machine became a millionaire (or is it billionaire?) very quickly. Yet he does not want to spend money on large numbers of moderators and only recently has sought to increase its team because of public outcry.

Even now, it does not want to spend really big money on appointing the massive numbers of moderators needed to cover the billions of new items each day. Facebook is, literally, out of control.

The only real way to end Facebook is for people to close their accounts. Otherwise, it will continue as before, forever spreading its tentacles.

As for its leaked policies....well, if those are their policies, Facebook deserves to close. Its values are, quite frankly, sick. To have a policy which says that posting details of non-sexual child abuse are OK - is truly sick in the head. To allow pages with photos and details of severe cruelty to animals - is equally sick. Yet innocent photos of adult human nudity are to be banned - in those cases where no suffering is involved!

Goodbye, Facebook....

[Tobi]

Yes I think I need to say "Goodbye Facebook" too.  There are other options to keep in touch with people. I actually haven't posted anything on my page for a long time.

It can be a very helpful venue for animal rescues and charities. It is almost mandatory for a Rescue to have a FB presence. It can be a good link-up situation for those helping animals.
But the dark side is too dark as far as I am concerned, and it seems that the 'free speech' idea is of greater priority than ethics! Yet the values are sick and twisted.

I spoke to a woman today whose son committed suicide in February this year. Heavy debt was more than he could bear, but one of the triggers to him ending his life was the 'flak' he received on Facebook. That, of course, is not all Facebook's fault but much to do with the mentality of those who wrote abuse like that. But WHY are so many being driven to suffering and even suicide by bullying on Facebook?? It is the responsibility of those who run that site to police it more successfully, and if that costs money -so be it!

[Catherine]

I think it is not just Facebook, it is the whole social media issue. The world has never had such a public means of communication like this before. We have no idea how to handle it. In some cases it is being abused. I have had to block the feeds from some people and unfriend some people. I try to ignore all the many friend requests and suggested friendships. If you don't know the person they are not really your friend.

I don't know what Facebook's policies are or the policies of other groups. They all probably need some serious review.
I don't think we know what policies are needed to protect privacy, allow for free speech and still not allow for abuse and violence to be published. They need to hire a team of people trained in ethics to debate this issue and come up with better guidelines.

The moderators can only do as well as the policies they are upholding.

The internet has become a place where people can boast about their darker deeds. It is up to us all to work to keep the internet a better place. It doesn't mean we should censor everything, but clearly some things are wrong. Anything that is abusive does not belong on the internet whether it is Facebook or YouTube. Anything that is abusive should not be happening in the first place.

One thought, people now feel the need to boast online about horrible things that they do. This does give us a chance to catch them.

[Tobi]

(06-06-2017, 04:28 PM)Catherine Wrote: It is up to us all to work to keep the internet a better place. It doesn't mean we should censor everything, but clearly some things are wrong. Anything that is abusive does not belong on the internet whether it is Facebook or YouTube. Anything that is abusive should not be happening in the first place.

One thought, people now feel the need to boast online about horrible things that they do. This does give us a chance to catch them.

Yes you are right. There is something we can do to help, and we should do it when the need arises; when we see something obviously wrong. We are not completely powerless. The more voices report such things, the more seriously sites will take it (although I have also heard that even some reported posts on FB got ignored!) However if one million people reported it, that makes a great difference!

[LPC]

If Facebook continues to allow pictures of non-sexual child abuse and appalling cruelty to animals, the organisation deserves to decline. Bullying (to the point of threats, severe sarcasm, extreme criticism, etc.) is very common, and as we know has led some young people to end their lives on earth. Yet Facebook does little about all this. There is a lot on the net on this subject. Here is just one (about trolls): https://www.facebook.com/help/community/...9218443825

Yes, Catherine, whilst FB still exists it does give us the chance to report obvious cases of cruelty to the authorities, as some of the perpetrators are so egotistic that they actually boast online about their exploits. That is about the only good thing to come from FB.

Twitter is another story - but don't get me started, haha!

[Tobi]

I read that on your link provided, LPC.
Judging by some of the comments added, (and -not surprisingly!) it seems to be the fault of the capacity of Facebook's online form for reporting. Now, at roots level, that means they are not willing to use resources to help solve these bullying issues, and I presume the same regarding abuse content.
"....'We have found this content does not infringe your copyright or rights'...." (quoted from the above page) -is not correct. Harassment is a legal issue. So, in effect, Facebook is stepping outside the correct legal framework they should be mindful of.
Referring this chap to his local police force is passing the buck of responsibility.
It is Facebook's legal responsibility to take charge of what is published on their pages....in my honest opinion.

It is a dereliction of duty that they refuse to, or curtail reporting, so that the subject of the report cannot be properly discussed. The online report form should have a word limit of -say -200 words. And their ethical standards should be seriously overhauled. They should also be very mindful of legal issues. And manpower and funding should be sufficient to cover extra attention this may need.

Social media is a minefield, but something must be done about what is going on in Facebook.

[Catherine]

When I was thinking about reporting things I was thinking of the local police. Bullying and threats can be dealt with by which ever law enforcement agency has jurisdiction. Since child abuse is a crime, a picture on Facebook or any other group can be reported to the police.
People who have posted pictures of their children being endangered(drinking, driving etc.) have ended up in trouble.

I would think people posting pictures of animals being abused could be reported to local animal control or whoever has the authority to act. All Facebook can do is remove posts and delete accounts. I would rather the person posting the abuse be caught by the police.

Never before have we had people making their own wrong deeds public. It has become a real trend. This might be an opportunity to catch such people and stop them from doing more.

Quote:Twitter is another story - but don't get me started, haha!

I have no intention of getting mixed up with twitter. I think it's name is very appropriate.

[Tobi]

Yes of course you make a very good point there Catherine. Local police have the jurisdiction to be able to make an arrest. Facebook hasn't. At least a 'bad' post stands as evidence. If it were immediately wiped....the evidence may be lost.

Haha "Twitter"! When I first heard of it I thought "I am not going to have anything to do with THAT!" I couldn't bear the idea of "twittering" as that isn't my style! lol (well I hope not anyway.) But then I got drawn into it by DogLost UK, and also heard it was a good venue for getting interest in the book "Angel From the Streets"....and I got hot links to many animal petitions....so there I went....twittering after all! But personally, I have not gained much from it, and the amount of use I have been to others is almost nil.
I hardly ever go there any more.