Following the terrorist attack in New Zealand, Facebook is cracking down on its live streaming service after it was used to broadcast the attack live on the platform.
Facebook was heavily criticized for not removing the stream quickly enough before it left hundreds of copies online. After discovering more than 900 different copies of it online, Facebook COO Cheryl Sandberg admitted that the company needed to do more.
One Strike Policy
The social network revealed yesterday that it will be implementing a “one strike” policy for live streaming violations. Users who violate community standards even once will be banned from streaming for a set time, depending on the nature of the violation.
Facebook VP of integrity said,
From now on, anyone who violates our most serious policies will be restricted from using Live (Facebook live streaming service) for set periods of time — for example 30 days — starting on their first offense. For instance, someone who shares a link to a statement from a terrorist group with no context will now be immediately blocked from using Live for a set period of time.
In summary, this new policy applies not only to Facebook Live, but users will also be banned for something like sharing links to statements from terrorist groups without any context, for example. The policy will roll out to other parts of the platform soon. Users that violate the policies will not be able to create any ads either.
Facebook further said that they will do more for finding and removing harmful content more quickly. It plans to invest $7.5 million in “new research partnerships with leading academics from three universities, designed to improve image and video analysis technology.”
