By Taib Biygautane
Rabat – In response to the Christchurch terrorist attacks in March which used Facebook Live to broadcast the incident, Facebook has put into effect new preventive measures.
“Following the horrific terrorist attacks in New Zealand, we’ve been reviewing what more we can do to limit our services from being used to cause harm or spread hate,” said Facebook’s Vice President of Integrity, Guy Rosen.
“As a direct result, starting today, people who have broken certain rules on Facebook — including our Dangerous Organizations and Individuals policy — will be restricted from using Facebook Live,” added Rosen.
One Strike Policy
According to the announcement, Facebook will implement what it describes as the ‘one strike’ policy to live-streaming violations. Users will be subject to restrictions following just one violation of the new policy.
The one strike policy will prevent individuals who violate Facebook Live rules from using the service for an unspecified period of time – potentially 30 days. Facebook also plans to extend these measures to other areas of the social network in the near future.
“Our goal is to minimize risk of abuse on Live while enabling people to use Live in a positive way every day,” said Rosen.
The announcement also revealed a research partnership with the University of Maryland, Cornell University, and the University of California in an effort to develop new technologies that would “detect manipulated media across images, video and audio, and distinguish between unwitting posters and adversaries who intentionally manipulate videos and photographs.”
This partnership is an attempt to put an end to the proliferation of edited videos similar to those of the Christchurch attacks on its platform.
The terrorist attacks in New Zealand last Marchclaimed the lives of 51 Muslims while at prayer.
The perpetrator used Facebook’s live-streaming service to broadcast the entire incident without being reported or blocked.
