Facebook will allow posts with images that contain nudity and violence if users want to. In the future, the social network will ask users how they feel about such posts and then adjust the news feed accordingly.
If users don’t choose anything, their settings are an average of what people in their region have chosen, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg writes in a lengthy post about the difficulties surrounding rules and communities. “Here from California, we can’t properly assess all cultural values around the world. Instead, we need a system where everyone can participate in setting those standards.”
Zuckerberg notes, among other things, that Europeans seem more tolerant of naked body parts, while in the Middle East, for example, this is more sensitive. “While we still continue to block content based on standards and local laws, our hope is that the system of personal controls and democratic referendums will minimize the restrictions on what we can share.”
To improve the system of recognizing content to be blocked, Facebook wants to use artificial intelligence in the future. Those systems must, among other things, understand news in order to distinguish between, for example, news about terrorism and propaganda for terrorism.
Zuckerberg acknowledges that Facebook has become more than a social network. “Our community is evolving from its origins to connect us with family and friends to a source of news and public debate.”
Zuckerberg’s piece focuses on the future of Facebook and it is still unknown when the concrete changes he points out will show up in practice.