Don’t be surprised if you started seeing public figures more often on Facebook and other social media platforms. The world is going more online and different sectors are seamlessly converging so as to stand on equal footing. Given the reach and exposure offered by Facebook, it comes as no surprise if certain figures chose to go on the platform to advance political agendas. As a result, Facebook in turn now looks to improve its policies towards better protecting public figures from all types of harassment, whether directly or indirectly.

One of the primary concerns that these policy updates wish to address is offering more protection for individuals from ‘brigading’ or better known as ‘Cancel Culture’. When Facebook detects that such incidents have gone too far, it will look to provide added security for those being targeted.

Facebook states that:

“We will now remove coordinated efforts of mass harassment that target individuals at heightened risk of offline harm, for example victims of violent tragedies or government dissidents – even if the content on its own wouldn’t violate our policies. We will also remove objectionable content that is considered mass harassment towards any individual on personal surfaces, such as direct messages in inbox or comments on personal profiles or posts.”

In response to the increasing prevalence of the ‘Cancel Culture’ (pile-ons), Facebook has deemed it necessary to uphold the interest of public figures in hopes of furthering important agendas without fear of misinterpretation or being unreasonably lambasted. No one wants to have to deal with ‘Social Justice Warriors’ and the reputational tarnish and psychological impacts as results of ‘flaming’ and other acts associated with “hate speech” can be extremely detrimental.

There is a slight concern when it comes to the scope of this policy – to what extent will sanctions apply? It’s important to note that while the policy aims to provide public figures with more protection against instances of online harassment, it does so based on certain conditions or measures. Certain policy stipulations might impact how people discuss trending stories which, in turn, might come off to some as a form of limiting ‘freedom of expression’. We’ll have to wait how policy changes will be optimally carried out as things are still, at most, in the process of refinement.

The platform is also amending some of its already existing enforcement guidelines regarding public figures. For the benefit of open communication and facilitating legitimate public discourse, Facebook also now looks to protect public figures, primarily prominent female figures, from sexualized attacks, stating that “Public figures shouldn’t be subjected to degrading or sexualized attacks.” Likewise, and in accordance with rising pandemic-related scenarios, Facebook includes in its protection those who unwillingly or indirectly become public figures because of something they said or did.

Facebook reassures that:

“We’ll now offer more protections for public figures, like journalists and human rights defenders, who have become famous involuntarily or because of their work. These groups will now have protections from harmful content – for example content that ranks their physical looks, as other involuntary public figures do.”

The Wrap 

Facebook announced these changes as part of National Bullying Prevention and Awareness Day and as a response amidst growing calls for more regulation on how it influences public discourse and “manipulates” certain narratives. Regardless of the real reason, it’s an important step on Facebook’s part, knowing full well what its platform is capable of.

So much negativity already circulates online as we speak. No one needs to expose capable and willing figures to the various detriments that already plague real world politicians and decision makers. Besides, if harassment can spread to public figures, what stops it for targeting influencers, groups, businesses? Everyone is equally vulnerable.

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Sources 

https://bit.ly/3AHRR8E