Facebook to put warnings on violent videos
Facebook has started warning users about the content of violent videos, asking users to confirm they want to proceed to content that could “shock, offend and upset.”
Before the changes, which have been slowly rolled out since September, content would auto-play in users’ news feeds without asking for confirmation. The restrictions are only applied to violent content and not to other explicit material.
Facebook does not itself locate content which may be suspect, instead relying on users to flag unsuitable material so Facebook can add a warning. Facebook’s terms of use stipulate that some content is not suitable for publication, namely that which is “shared for sadistic pleasure or to celebrate or glorify violence.”
One graphic video that has already been given a warning is the murder of Paris policeman Ahmed Merabet, who was killed by terrorists during the attack on French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo.