By MARISSA YOUNG<\/p>\n
In May, Facebook banned the posting of graphic content to address the problem of videos of beheadings.\u00a0 However, Facebook is now easing this ban, allowing certain content, such as decapitations, to be posted as long as the goal is to raise awareness of the horror, not to promote violence.<\/p>\n
When I first read this, I was taken aback because I had skimmed over the part about raising awareness. That made Facebook\u2019s decision easier to understand \u2026 for a moment, until I thought about how futile these videos would actually be at raising awareness.<\/p>\n
Facebook is a social media website. It is a place for people to connect with each other.\u00a0 Facebook has never had such a serious nature, or any serious nature at all, so users are not expecting bloody, gruesome videos.\u00a0 Users\u2019 first thoughts would not be that the videos are trying to fight violence, because that doesn\u2019t make much sense.\u00a0 Instead, most sane users would be horrified and disturbed.<\/p>\n
I believe that Facebook is using this \u201craising awareness\u201d standpoint to save face in the business and legal worlds.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t understand why Facebook suddenly decided that it was okay to allow videos of people chopping heads off of others. Nor do I understand why this violence is acceptable, yet videos depicting nudity, drug use, and pornography — which are at least milder than decapitations \u2013 remain banned.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure what Facebook is hoping to get out of lifting the violent video ban, but the company\u2019s explanation just doesn\u2019t add up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By MARISSA YOUNG In May, Facebook banned the posting of graphic content to address the problem of videos of beheadings.\u00a0 However, Facebook is now easing this ban, allowing certain content, such as decapitations, to be posted as long as the … Continue reading