Facebook updated its community standards to allow for users to call for "high-severity violence" against sexual offenders, including death threats.
In its " Do not post" section on its website, Facebook changed its standards in a July update to allow an exception to its "Violence and Incitement" standard for individuals "described as having carried out violent crimes or sexual offenses, wherein criminal/predator status has been established by media reports, market knowledge of news event, etc."
The exception allows users to make: "Threats that could lead to death" against alleged violent and sexual offenders. Facebook does not require for the threats to be against persons who have been convicted under criminal law.
We don’t allow credible threats of violence against anyone. We do allow some speech that calls for certain forms of violence, such as calls for the death penalty for criminals or support for military action against terrorists. We have updated our Community Standards to be more clear about this," Facebook spokesperson said in a statement to the Washington Examiner.
Facebook updated their community standards again saying the language they added earlier in July was "imprecise."
"The language we previously used to describe our policies against violence and incitement was imprecise. We have since replaced it to more clearly explain the policy and underlying rationale," the Facebook said in an update to their "Violence and Incitement" community standards.
"In some cases, we see aspirational or conditional threats directed at terrorists and other violent actors (e.g. Terrorists deserve to be killed), and we deem those non credible absent specific evidence to the contrary," the company said.
