Decapitation videos spark Facebook row

Charities warn that watching the video clips could cause long-lasting psychological damage

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Concern about videos spread through Facebook showing people being decapitated have prompted a member of the firm's own safety advisory board to say it will raise the issue with the social network.

Facebook has refused to ban the clips.

It said people had a right to depict the real world.

However, the US's Family Online Safety Institute told the BBC the graphic nature of the violence involved meant that the material had "crossed a line".

"Personally and professionally I feel that Facebook has got this call wrong," said Stephen Balkam, the organisation's chief executive.

Charities in the UK have also called on the social network to reconsider its stance saying the material could cause long-term psychological damage.

Graphic violence

The warnings come after a one-minute long video was uploaded to the site last week showing a woman being beheaded by a masked man.

A voice heard on the footage suggests that it was filmed in Mexico.

A second video clip showing the execut1on of two men has also shared on the network after being posted last Wednesday. The victims admit to being drug smugglers for a Mexican cartel before being attacked with a chainsaw and knife.

Ryan Lasmali, a student at Belfast University, contacted the BBC after one of the clips spread around his friends' news feeds.

He said he had flagged the material with Facebook as being inappropriate, but was sent the following reply.

"Thanks for your report. We reviewed the video you reported, but found it doesn't violate Facebook's Community Standard on graphic violence, which includes depicting harm to someone or something, threats to the public's safety, or theft and vandalism."

Facebook confirmed it opted to leave such material online.

In reference to the video showing the woman's murder, it issued the following statement:

"People are sharing this video on Facebook to condemn it. 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.

"While this video is shocking, our approach is designed to preserve people's rights to describe, depict and comment on the world in which we live."

Safety advisers

For the past three years Facebook has consulted five organisations in North America and Europe to discuss its online safety policies.

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Mr Balkam said that Facebook had "got this call wrong"

Although the group is not scheduled to meet until September, the head of one of the members of this group said he now planned to raise the issue during an "extraordinary" phone conference.

"Where it gets grey is: what is in the public interest? Is it in the public interest to know what is going on with the drug lords in Mexico?" asked Mr Balkam.

"But given that not only are teenagers accessing this, but consumer reports estimate that seven and a half million under-13s in the US are on Facebook, you've just got to consider: would this go out on daytime television news?

"I don't think it would, even with a warning saying this is something you may want to avoid. It crosses a line."

Psychological damage

UK child safety campaigners also condemned Facebook's policy.

"Facebook must have taken leave of their senses," said John Carr, who sits on the executive board of the UK government's Council on Child Internet Safety.

"I hate to think how an unsuspecting youngster might react if they saw it through their news feed or in any other way.

"And what about the about the dignity of the individuals depicted in those awful scenes and the feelings of their families? This is just wrong at every level."

Decapitation videos can be accessed through sites found via search engines and other popular video clip sites.

However, Dr Arthur Cassidy - a former psychologist who runs a branch of the suicide prevention charity Yellow Ribbon - said Facebook's social nature made it particularly problematic.

He added that he had seen the videos in question and warned they could cause long-lasting psychological damage.

"We know from evidence that [watching] such material can influence self-esteem in a very negative way," he said.

"It can also cause flashbacks, nightmares and sleep disturbance. If that is prolonged it can transfer into many other negative effects in a child and adults as well such as anxiety-related disorders and panic attacks.

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Facebook says it has more than one billion members

"The other problem is some people, in their innocence, might share this with friends to say how abhorrent it is, and we are concerned about the profound and uncontrollable impact this can have on an entire community."

Possible compromise

An online petition calling for Facebook to remove decapitation videos had attracted 168 "likes" at time of writing.

One person who supported the campaign wrote: "The video appeared twice on my news feed... I cannot imagine the impact it will have on a younger person.

Facebook needs to create some kind of filter to block these images from appearing in the news feed."

Facebook confirmed that its current privacy tools allowed users to block posts by particular people, but not specific types of content.

Mr Balkam said that finding a way to block the spread of such clips to those who had not opted into receiving them was one idea that could be explored.

"If they are going to host this kind of graphic violence how then can we best prevent those videos getting into the hands of folks who really don't want to see these, including children?" he asked.

BBC News Technology

Anyone got a link?

I'm not sure the likes of Facebook is the place to put up media like this, but I do however, feel we are censored too much on the reality of some issues, particularly the real face of conflict in certain parts of the world. If they were to show uncensored reporting on the news (perhaps after the watershed) it could well make people think more.

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Originally Posted by burner1

I'm not sure the likes of Facebook is the place to put up media like this, but I do however, feel we are censored too much on the reality of some issues, particularly the real face of conflict in certain parts of the world. If they were to show uncensored reporting on the news (perhaps after the watershed) it could well make people think more.

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Totally agree when you have lived in a country that shows everything blood guts and gore you realise the sanitisation is counter productive if you want to get people to realise the reality of conflict.

Facebook are cunts for dealing with this in the way they have. I also agree that such issues shouldn't be censored but there are places on the net that they can be viewed easily (liveleak etc.).

Social media is not the place given the fact that young children use it too. It wouldn't take long for such a video to go viral and end up on the newsfeeds of primary school children. Whether or not people believe they should be allowed to use the likes of FB etc., they are there and do use it.

Are there no depths of human decency that these money obsessed cunts will not stoop? Fuck Facefuck, and fuck Zuckerberg.

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Originally Posted by GTI

Are there no depths of human decency that these money obsessed cunts will not stoop? Fuck Facefuck, and fuck Zuckerberg.

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we need to stop using it

It's ridiculous that FB haven't taken this down. What is the point of their graphic violence policy if they don't even ban murder videos? They say they allow people to post these videos because they are doing it to raise awareness about issues, so would they allow videos of child sex abuse to be posted to 'raise awareness' about that too?

I don't wanna see that shit on my FB news feed when I'm sipping my morning cup of tea. Mates liking pictures of steroid juiced gym meat heads is too much for me at that time in the morning.

End of the day, unless you pay for a service, you are the product.

They have changed their minds. I have just pasted the first bit as I think the rest is the same.

I like the BBC website, but I find they have got a wee bit lazy with printing the same stuff over and over again with an evolving story.

Facebook has said it will delete videos of people being decapitated which had been spread on its site.

"We will remove instances of these videos that are reported to us while we evaluate our policy and approach to this type of content," it said.

The news came less than two hours after the BBC revealed a member of Facebook's own safety advisory board had criticised its stance.

The social network had previously refused to ban the clips.

It had said people had a right to depict the "world in which we live".

But the US's Family Online Safety Institute (Fosi) said the violent nature of the material had "crossed a line".

"Personally and professionally I feel that Facebook has got this call wrong," said Stephen Balkam, the organisation's chief executive, ahead of the U-turn.

Charities in the UK had also called on the social network to reconsider its stance saying the material could cause long-term psychological damage.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22368287

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Originally Posted by tarekbsl100

i read your post that is great and helpful post i think?

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Try reading the rules, and stop digging up old threads while you're at it.