Facebook announces new policy to remove misinformation that could lead to violence

Facebook on Wednesday announced a new policy for removing misinformation, including altered imagery, from the platform that is intended to cause or exacerbate violence.

Misleading and inaccurate information spread through the social media site has been linked to violence in Myanmar and Sri Lanka. U.N. investigators reported that extremist Buddhists in Myanmar used Facebook to spread public messages in their ethnic cleansing campaign against the Rohingya Muslim minority. Extremist Buddhists in Sri Lanka have also taken to Facebook to post misinformation denigrating the Muslim minority, which has led to communal attacks.

A Facebook spokesperson wrote in a statement, “Reducing the distribution of misinformation—rather than removing it outright—strikes the right balance between free expression and a safe and authentic community. There are certain forms of misinformation that have contributed to physical harm, and we are making a policy change which will enable us to take that type of content down. We will be begin implementing the policy during the coming months.”