Facebook hits a new level of censorship and its users aren’t happy

• Facebook has implemented a new set of rules under its ‘Sexual Solicitation’ section of its Community Standards.
• While the company’s intention was to ban content that contributed towards ‘coordinating and recruiting for adult sexual activities’, users have exploded on social media saying that this move has taken censorship a little too far.
  
• The company defended its position by stating that the change was prompted due to feedback from their content reviews who felt that the old sexual exploitation policy didn’t clearly distinguish between exploitation and solicitation.

There is little debate that Facebook needs a new wave of policy to improve the credibility of its social platform but a lot users are feeling that its new ‘Sexual Solicitation’ section of the Community Standards is taking things a little too far.


The move has gained a lot of flak from Facebook users over being a little ‘too restrictive’ in terms what can be considered ‘Sexual Solicitation’.

It’s not necessarily a new step since Facebook’s policy already bans porn and sexual solicitation on its platform but according to the company’s spokesman, Facebook decided to ‘freshen-up’ its policy to better address the advent of such content on the platform.

While the representative did not comment on users complaining that the language of the new regulations were too broad and kept people from indulging in ‘dirty talk’, they did say that the new rules were put in place after taking inputs from a third-party organisation that specialises in safety issues concerning women and children.

The best of intentions

Reports by users suggest that Facebook may have gone a little too far with what they were trying to accomplish.

While it’s understandable that Facebook is worried about its image considering the year it has had, bogged down by the Cambridge Analytica data breach and questions of ‘valid consent’, users don’t seem to be too happy with the new ‘censorship’ across messages on Facebook that disallows any references to ‘Ádult Nudity’ and ‘Sexual Activity’.