Facebook to continue showing beheading footages, if posted in `right context`

London – In a continued controversy surrounding the extent to which violent content can be shown on Facebook, the social networking giant has reportedly said that it will continue showing footages of beheadings as long as they are in the ‘right context’.

Facebook has been criticized for allowing graphic content on its site, with the potential to cause psychological damage, especially to teenagers.

However, Facebook’s UK and Ireland policy director Simon Milner said such footages could expose human rights abuses adding that such content would contain more prior warnings.

According to the BBC, the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers (ISBA) accused Facebook of lacking a sense of ‘responsibility’.

The report said that Facebook had earlier issued a temporary ban on graphic content on its site after a video of a woman’s beheading circulated on the site, but relaxed the ban totally saying such videos, if posted for condemnation, are allowed to be shared.

Milner said that human rights activists wanted to use Facebook to highlight such human right abuses and these people were ‘condemning, not glorifying’ beheadings and there was a place for people to share that kind of content in the right context.

He further explained that more measures are taken to ensure that people share such content more responsibly.

Meanwhile, ISBA’s director of media and advertising, Bob Wootton seemed little convinced and said that advertisers would be concerned with the move and they rightly demand that where possible their ads are protected from appearing against explicit content, whatever the context of that content.