Facebook to ban content that sexually harasses celebrities

'Public figures, whether they are politicians, journalists, celebrities or creators, use Facebook and Instagram to engage directly with their followers,' Antigone Davis, global head of safety at Facebook, outlined in a blog post

Facebook logo. Pic/AFP

Social media giant Facebook has announced that it will be removing severe "sexualizing content" targeting public figures, including celebrities, politicians and creators, as part of a new update to its harassment policies.

"Public figures, whether they are politicians, journalists, celebrities or creators, use Facebook and Instagram to engage directly with their followers," Antigone Davis, global head of safety at Facebook, outlined in a blog post.

"Our bullying and harassment policy differentiates between public figures and private individuals to enable freedom of expression and legitimate public discourse around those in the public eye."

It will now remove coordinated efforts of mass harassment that target individuals at heightened risk of offline harm.

The firm said it 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.

Facebook will eliminate state-linked and adversarial networks of accounts, Pages and Groups that work together to harass or silence people, for example a state-sponsored organisation using closed private groups to coordinate mass posting on dissident profiles.

In addition, Facebook said it will provide more protections to people who have become public figures "involuntarily," like journalists and human-rights advocates.

Facebook pulled down 1,259 accounts, Pages and Groups from its main app as well as Instagram in September for manipulating public debate.

In Iran, it removed 93 Facebook accounts, 14 Pages, 15 Groups and 194 Instagram accounts that targeted primarily domestic audiences in that country, particularly in the Lorestan province.

Also in the same month, Facebook removed two networks from Sudan and Iran.

In Sudan, Facebook removed 116 Pages, 666 Facebook accounts, 69 Groups and 92 Instagram accounts.

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