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January 09, 2014
Facebook Admits the Obvious

A few days ago, Snapshots drew attention to a hateful photo posted on Facebook -- one that lionized Nazi violence against civilians, abused Nike's swoosh logo and slogan, "Just Do it." Initially, Facebook didn't take the photo down even after receiving a number of complaints. The first response said it did not violate Facebook's community standards. Eventually, the photo disappeared.
Today, Facebook sent out a message that stated, "We reviewed your report" and that "We revised our decision on your report of the photo in question." A click in the email takes the reader to the message posted above.
The episode raises a number of questions. Why wasn't the photo taken down immediately? Who first decided the photo was OK? And how many complaints does it take for people to realize there's a problem?
Is Facebook really serious about enforcing its community standards?
1:13 p.m. update: As it turns out, the user's account has been deleted entirely.
Posted by dvz at January 9, 2014 12:55 PM
Comments
I have noticed that Facebook routinely declines such reports, only to approve them later upon review. It is as if their first line of defense is unaware of traditional anti-semitic imagery, and they rely on their second line to take appropriate action.
That is my generous interpretation of what is going on at Facebook.
Posted by: Art M at January 15, 2014 11:46 AM
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