Amazing Susan
Challenges, Feminism, Internet / Social Media, World issues

Yes, @Facebook, it IS graphic violence (Trigger warning)

Domestic abuseOne of the issues central to the campaign to have violently misogynist and completely inappropriate content removed from Facebook is the question of what constitutes:

  • hate speech or symbol
  • graphic violence
  • nudity or pornography

Four paragraphs below this one is a screenshot. At the top of the  screenshot is a “poster” of a woman who appears to have been shot in the head and is either bleeding to death or has already bled to death. The caption says: “I like her for her brains.”

People regularly report images such as these to Facebook, and Facebook judges whether it feels they constitute hate speech, graphic violence, nudity or pornography and the like (the list of options is here How to report hate speech on Facebook.

As you can see in the screenshot @Facebook responded to the  person who reported the image with one of their standard replies i.e. it “doesn’t violate Facebook’s Community Standards on graphic violence…”

Yesterday, I posted the screenshot on my AmazingWomenRock Facebook page:

Report_ I like her brains

I asked my community members what they thought of it.  Before I tell you what they said, I would like to know what YOU think.

How would you describe the image above? Is it acceptable content on Facebook? You can add answers if the answer you want isn’t there.  I also invite you to share the polls widely so the #FBrape campaign can then share it with Facebook.

Thank you for sharing your views. You can see what members of the Amazing Women Rock community said here.

Some of these images are removed by Facebook, but hundreds more appear. Women, Action, & Media (WAM!) logs a gallery of horrors of them here on a regular basis) (Trigger warning).

Our collective goal is to have content such as this removed quickly, and to create in the long-term a safer environment for women and girls, one in which violence against us is not encouraged  and legitimized,  and a better world for everyone, women, men, and children.

This is my fifth post in a series of posts in support of the open letter created by  Women, Action, & Media (WAM), The Everyday Sexism Project and writer/activist Soraya Chemaly.  demanding “swift, comprehensive and effective action addressing the representation of rape and domestic violence on Facebook.”

The others are ( in sequential order of  appearance):

  1. Blocked for being a “bad girl?” (Trigger warning)
  2. How to report hate speech on Facebook
  3. I’m confused Facebook… (Trigger warning)
  4. Some down. A long way to go. (Trigger warning)

I highly recommend: Hey, Facebook, rape is not a punchline by Clementine Ford; it is, in my view, the definitive article in this campaign so far. Other worthwhile links appear below.

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Posted by AmazingSusan