Facebook reinforces its policies on bullying and harassment

announced Facebook is starting to remove sexual content targeting public figures as part of a new update to its bullying and harassment policies. The policy changes also include coordinated harassment attacks against users.

As part of this new policy update, the platform said it is removing any accounts, pages, groups or events dedicated to the sexualization of public figures, including celebrities, politicians, and content creators.

Antigone Davis, Facebook’s head of global safety, said in a blog post that the new policy prohibits sexual images, drawings and any content that is offensive to bodily functions.

The company also noted that it removes unwanted sexual comments and repeated attacks that sexually harass an individual.

Davis wrote in the blog post: “Public figures – whether they are politicians, journalists, celebrities or content creators – use our platforms to communicate directly with their followers.” We’ve made these changes because such attacks can weaponize a public figure’s appearance, which is unnecessary and often unrelated to the work these public figures represent.

Facebook’s policy announcement comes after whistleblower Frances Hogan testified before Congress last week.

Last Tuesday’s hearing focused on a series of reports from the Wall Street Journal that revealed that company executives were aware of the damage its platform could do to users, especially teens.

Hogan is expected to testify before the British Parliament later this month.

The new update also includes new language that prohibits large and coordinated attacks on users who are at increased risk of harm offline, even if the posts or messages do not violate the company’s content policies.

This update includes posts on Facebook and Instagram and direct messages sent to individuals such as government opponents or victims of violent attacks.

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Facebook bans content that sexually harasss celebrities

Last month, Twitch added new tools to combat the harassment of content creators. Including phone number verification options for chat.

The streaming platform also announced changes to its email verification system. This is to give creators more control over the viewers who use the chat.

Users are allowed up to five accounts for one phone number. This limits the number of accounts that can be made to harass a content creator.

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