Response to Comments on Facebook Principles Share Wed 12:16pm Introduction
Thanks for taking the time to read and give feedback on the proposed Facebook Principles. Your involvement in this notice and comment period has been unique in the history of the Internet, and your insights and perspectives have been really valuable.
First, we want to make very clear the purpose of this document. Some of your comments had to do with the use of the word "should" instead of "will," and a few of you asked how Facebook plans to enforce these Principles. Unlike the Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, which is legally binding, the Facebook Principles are meant to provide a general foundation for how Facebook is governed. They reflect the philosophy and values to which we aspire rather than specific commitments between Facebook and our users.
Still, we take these Principles very seriously and will use them as the guiding framework for all future product and policy decisions. Because the Principles are aspirational goals, however, we might not always achieve them. When this happens, we want you to hold us accountable, and we're hopeful that our new system of notice and comment will help correct any potential missteps.
With that, here are the most common questions that came up in the Virtual Town Hall, and our take on them:
1. Freedom to Share and Connect
People should have the freedom to share whatever information they want, in any medium and any format, and have the right to connect online with anyone – any person, organization or service – as long as they both consent to the connection.
How can I be sure that Facebook won't censor me?
Facebook respects free speech and does not remove content simply because it expresses a certain viewpoint. We do want to create a safe and trusted environment for our users, however, and we will remove content that's pornographic, hateful, threatening, or that otherwise violates our Statement of Rights and Responsibilities or the law. Most of this is done only after other Facebook users or third parties have reported the content to us.
2. Ownership and Control of Information
People should own their information. They should have the freedom to share it with anyone they want and take it with them anywhere they want, including removing it from the Facebook Service. People should have the freedom to decide with whom they will share their information, and to set privacy controls to protect those choices. Those controls, however, are not capable of limiting how those who have received information may use it, particularly outside the Facebook Service.
How can I be sure that Facebook won't use my content for whatever purposes it wants?
Facebook does not claim any ownership over your content, but we do need a license to be able to do the things you ask us to with it, like share it with your friends. The extent of this license is explained in Section 2.3 of our Statement of Rights and Responsibilities. The license only covers those rights that we need to provide our services and features. For example, when you upload photos to Facebook, this license allows us to share those photos with your friends. You are in complete control of the license because it is restricted by your privacy settings, meaning that Facebook can't share your content with anyone to whom you haven't allowed access. Finally, it expires as soon as you delete your content or account.
Given that other users can copy and share the content I post, how do I make sure that I retain ownership of my content?
Facebook's privacy settings allow you to control access to the content you post. However, these settings cannot control what people do with that content once it's been posted. Just as an email provider can't prevent the recipient of an email from forwarding it to others, neither can Facebook keep someone who can view your photos from copying them or sharing them with others. If you're worried about this, we encourage you to take advantage of the settings we provide and restrict access to your content only to the people you trust.
When I delete my photos and videos, I want to know that it's deleted and never shared with a third party.
When you delete photos and videos from Facebook, it's immediately made inaccessible to other users. It is deleted from our servers in a manner similar to emptying the recycle bin or trash on a computer. As a result, removed content may persist in backup copies for a reasonable period of time (but will not be available to others).
3. Free Flow of Information
People should have the freedom to access all of the information made available to them by others. People should also have practical tools that make it easy, quick, and efficient to share and access this information.
How do I make sure that people can't access my information without my consent?
Facebook's privacy settings allow you to control access to the content you post.
4. Fundamental Equality
Every Person – whether individual, advertiser, developer, organization, or other entity – should have representation and access to distribution and information within the Facebook Service, regardless of the Person's primary activity. There should be a single set of principles, rights, and responsibilities that should apply to all People using the Facebook Service.
Why are the rights of advertisers equal to those of users?
We think there are positives to allowing advertisers to distribute their message in the same way that other users can. Our recent change to Facebook Pages is a good example of this. Page udpates now appear along with updates from friends in the stream on the home page. This allows brands to communicate quickly and easily – and in the same way other users do – with people who have chosen to connect with them.
We also want to empower people to share whatever they want with whomever they want (see our first Principle above), and this might include advertisers. We do not allow advertisers to collect information from people without their consent, but if a user wants to provide information in order to a company he or she likes, we think that should be allowed.
Finally, Facebook's real name culture applies to advertisers as well as people. This means that advertisers must identify themselves accurately and be transparent about how they are using the Facebook Service. In cases where they do not do this, such as when they use Facebook to spam people with misleading messages or links, we respond quickly to shut them down through both legal and technical means.
5. Social Value
People should have the freedom to build trust and reputation through their identity and connections, and should not have their presence on the Facebook Service removed for reasons other than those described in Facebook's Statement of Rights and Responsibilities.
How can I be sure that Facebook won't treat me unfairly?
Facebook accounts are disabled most often as a result of reports we have received from other users or third parties. Our User Operations team is trained to only take action on an account when the account holder has clearly violated Facebook's policies. There are cases, however, where we might make a mistake. When this happens, we give you the option of contacting us to appeal the decision. Our team reviews the appeal, and if justified, reverses the decision and restores access to your account.
6. Open Platforms and Standards
People should have programmatic interfaces for sharing and accessing the information available to them. The specifications for these interfaces should be published and made available and accessible to everyone.
How can I be sure that the applications I use on Facebook aren't misusing my data?
We believe you should be able to share whatever information you want with whatever service you want. We require applications to follow certain policies in their use of people's information, and we employ a team to investigate potential violations. However, we cannot guarantee that every application will always be in compliance. That's why we give you control over how applications can access your information. We also require all applications to be clear with you about how they collect and use your information by posting privacy policies that explain their practices. We encourage you to read these policies.
The language for adding applications is too broad and should specify the information to which I am granting access and the reasons for which it will be used.
We require all applications to post privacy policies that explain how they use people's information, and we encourage you to read these policies. We also give you control over how applications can access your information and allow you to report applications that you think are misusing data. We employ a team to investigate these applications and take action on those that are violating our policies.
7. Fundamental Service
People should be able to use Facebook for free to establish a presence, connect with others, and share information with them. Every Person should be able to use the Facebook Service regardless of his or her level of participation or contribution.
Why does Facebook warn me for spamming when I send a lot of messages?
Facebook uses various automated systems to detect and stop behavior that might be abusive. These systems warn or disable the accounts of users who, for example, send a lot of messages to non-friends, or whose friend requests are ignored at a high rate. These systems help keep Facebook a safe and trusted environment. No system is perfect, however, and we're constantly working to improve ours.
This Principle should include exceptions because certain individuals, such as pedophiles, should not be allowed on Facebook.
We agree, and this is already covered in our Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, which prohibits convicted sex offenders from using Facebook. The SRR also prohibits people under the age of 13 and people accessing Facebook from embargoed countries.
8. Common Welfare
The rights and responsibilities of Facebook and the People that use it should be described in a Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, which should not be inconsistent with these Principles.
Section 2.3 of the Statement of Rights and Responsibilities seems to contradict the second principle. Why is this?
As explained above under the second principle, Facebook does not claim any ownership over your content. Section 2.3 of the Statement of Rights and Responsibilities explains the extent of the license we need to be able to provide our services and features. This license can only be used in relation to Facebook and is further constrained by your privacy settings. It also expires when you delete your content or account.
9. Transparent Process
Facebook should publicly make available information about its purpose, plans, policies, and operations. Facebook should have a town hall process of notice and comment and a system of voting to encourage input and discourse on amendments to these Principles or to the Rights and Responsibilities.
I should have the right to a formal complaints procedure, and my complaints should receive a response.
Facebook provides a number of ways for users to submit complaints. We allow you to report content you think violates our policies through report links located throughout the site. We also provide a Help page with contact forms that allow you to send emails to our User Operations team. This Help page includes a "Suggestions" tab where you can submit suggestions for the product. The Facebook Page allows you to receive updates from us and comment on what we're doing. Finally, our new system of governance allows you to give feedback on proposed changes to this document and our Statement of Rights and Responsibilities.
10. One World
The Facebook Service should transcend geographic and national boundaries and be available to everyone in the world.
The Facebook site, these Principles, and the Statement of Rights and Responsibilities should be available in other languages.
We agree. Through our Translations application, the Facebook site has already been translated into over 40 languages and dialects. We plan to use this application to eventually translate Facebook into every language in the world. We have translated this document and our Statement of Rights and Responsibilities into French, Italian, German, and Spanish and will do the same for all future proposed changes, so that users around the world have a chance to participate in the site governance process.
Other Comments
People had a number of other comments, some of which did not relate to just one principle. We address these here:
There should be a separate principle stating that no information of mine may be sold, traded, or given to any other company, agency, or government, and that there is no data mining on Facebook.
Our Privacy Policy explains in detail how we collect and use the information you choose to share. Facebook will not sell your information to anyone. We may provide information to other companies to help us bring you the services we offer. However, these companies can only use this information for reasons that we specify. We may also be required to provide certain information subject to a formal legal request, but we do not release this information unless we believe that the request meets legal standards. Finally, the Statement of Rights and Responsibilities strictly prohibits the collection of user information through automated means, and we have built systems to detect and block this type of activity.
There should be a separate Principle that all advertisements on Facebook will be tested for spyware, phishing, and viruses.
Facebook has developed policies for ads and regularly removes those that are misleading or malicious. We have also built systems to detect malware and phishing attempts and help stop their spread.
Conclusion
We hope these responses help, and that we've addressed most of your concerns. We really appreciate your involvement in this process.