Facebook has finally revealed the rules which will get you banned if they are broken. The social network has just announced its ‘Community Standards’, which sets out six forbidden activities.
‘The consequences of breaching our Community Standards vary depending on the severity of the breach and a person’s history on Facebook,’ Zuck’s firm wrote in a blog post.
‘For instance, we may warn someone for a first breach, but if they continue to breach our policies, we may restrict their ability to post on Facebook or disable their profile.
We may also notify law enforcement when we believe that there is a genuine risk of physical harm or a direct threat to public safety.’
The first thing you want to avoid doing is posting any violent threats or content showing violence. You will also be given the boot for selling drugs or weapons, whilst ‘promoting or publicising violent crime, theft and/or fraud’ will also get you the heave-ho.
Facebook said ‘coordinating harm’ was also banned, which means you can’t use it to whip up an armed insurrection, organise a small guerilla war or plan a riot.
‘In an effort to prevent and disrupt real-world harm, we prohibit people from facilitating or organising future criminal activity that is intended or likely to cause harm to people, businesses or animals’ it wrote.
The second major category is ‘safety’. This means no bullying, harassment or misuse of someone’s photos. Sexual exploitation of adults or children is also forbidden.
‘We believe that people share and connect more freely when they do not feel targeted based on their vulnerabilities,’ Facebook added. ‘As such, we have higher expectations for content that we call cruel and insensitive, which we define as content that targets victims of serious physical or emotional harm.’
Facebook users will also have to make sure their content ‘Integrity and authenticity’. This means no spamming, impersonating other people or spreading fake news.
They will also have to ‘respect intellectual property’, which means they ‘respect other people’s copyrights, trademarks and other legal rights’ by not uploading copyrighted material.
Parents will also be able to order the ‘removal of attacks on unintentionally famous minors’, such as kids who shot to fame in a viral video. For more information, visit Facebook’s website.