We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies, revised Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.
You are being directed to ZacksTrade, a division of LBMZ Securities and licensed broker-dealer. ZacksTrade and Zacks.com are separate companies. The web link between the two companies is not a solicitation or offer to invest in a particular security or type of security. ZacksTrade does not endorse or adopt any particular investment strategy, any analyst opinion/rating/report or any approach to evaluating individual securities.
If you wish to go to ZacksTrade, click OK. If you do not, click Cancel.
Facebook Does a U-turn on Vietnam War Photo After Criticism
Read MoreHide Full Article
After facing a scathing attack from journalists and politicians, Facebook Inc. will retain the iconic Vietnam War photo that captures children, with a naked girl in the center, running from napalm attack.
Further, Facebook added that it will now tweak its review systems to better manage the dual purpose of promoting freedom of expression and safety of the overall community.
A few days back, Facebook had taken it down after Norwegian author Tom Egeland included this photograph that changed the history of warfare in his post, causing a massive uproar. The photo was taken down as Facebook has a strict monitoring policy for posts that violate its community standards by promoting child pornography, nudity or sexual exploitation.
However, in this case, media/politicians observed that Facebook’s strict standards somewhat undermined the historical importance of the image. As a mark of solidarity with the protests, Norway’s Prime Minister Erna Solberg also posted the picture, which was again taken down. Subsequently, Solberg accused Facebook of trying to “edit” history and stated on her Facebook account that "I want my children and other children to grow up in a society where history is taught as it was, where they can learn from historical events and mistakes.”
Talking to Reuters, Solberg further added that “they must see the difference between editing out child pornography and editing out history. It's perfectly possible for a company like Facebook to sort this out. Otherwise we risk more censorship."
Following the widespread flak, Facebook backtracked on its decision. Per media reports, the company has issued a statement saying “An image of a naked child would normally be presumed to violate our Community Standards, and in some countries might even qualify as child pornography. In this case, we recognize the history and global importance of this image in documenting a particular moment in time. Because of its status as an iconic image of historical importance, the value of permitting sharing outweighs the value of protecting the community by removal, so we have decided to reinstate the image on Facebook where we are aware it has been removed.”
Facebook has been courting controversy for a while now, given its somewhat obscure rules on censorship. Earlier this year, Facebook chose not to take down a video of an African American, Philando Castile bleeding to death after being shot by a white policeman. The video was streamed by his fiancée on Facebook Live. The death of Castile and a few other such incidents resulted in a week of violent protests across the U.S and brought issues of racial intolerance into focus.
Again, things took a nasty turn in Dallas when a sniper by the name of Micah Xavier Johnson, a war veteran who reportedly acted alone, shot dead five policemen and grievously injured another two. This time, an eyewitness, Michael Bautista live streamed the incident on Facebook Live.
The disturbing and graphic video uploads on a public platform raised critical questions, prompting Facebook to issue a statement. The company said that in case of sensitive videos like those mentioned above “context and degree are everything. For instance, if a person witnessed a shooting, and used Facebook Live to raise awareness or find the shooter, we would allow it. However, if someone shared the same video to mock the victim or celebrate the shooting, we would remove the video.”
The company’s own inconsistency at monitoring posts is baffling. The Vietnam War photo reflects the horror of wars and in no way can it be considered as “promoting” child pornography/nudity.
We believe Facebook has to bring more consistency to its review policy. Curbing freedom of expression or undermining democracy is something that users won’t be very forgiving about. And for a company like Facebook, which thrives on users and engagement levels, loss of this key metric does not bode well for its financial performance. With over 1.7 billion users, Facebook remains the biggest social media service.
Interested in IPOs? Check out the special edition of Zacks Friday Finish Line below, where Editor Maddy Johnson and Content Writer Ryan McQueeney interview Kathleen Smith of Renaissance Capital about the IPO market in 2016 (see part two here).
Confidential from Zacks
Beyond this Analyst Blog, would you like to see Zacks' best recommendations that are not available to the public? Our Executive VP, Steve Reitmeister, knows when key trades are about to be triggered and which of our experts has the hottest hand. Click to see them now>>
See More Zacks Research for These Tickers
Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:
Image: Bigstock
Facebook Does a U-turn on Vietnam War Photo After Criticism
After facing a scathing attack from journalists and politicians, Facebook Inc. will retain the iconic Vietnam War photo that captures children, with a naked girl in the center, running from napalm attack.
Further, Facebook added that it will now tweak its review systems to better manage the dual purpose of promoting freedom of expression and safety of the overall community.
A few days back, Facebook had taken it down after Norwegian author Tom Egeland included this photograph that changed the history of warfare in his post, causing a massive uproar. The photo was taken down as Facebook has a strict monitoring policy for posts that violate its community standards by promoting child pornography, nudity or sexual exploitation.
However, in this case, media/politicians observed that Facebook’s strict standards somewhat undermined the historical importance of the image. As a mark of solidarity with the protests, Norway’s Prime Minister Erna Solberg also posted the picture, which was again taken down. Subsequently, Solberg accused Facebook of trying to “edit” history and stated on her Facebook account that "I want my children and other children to grow up in a society where history is taught as it was, where they can learn from historical events and mistakes.”
Talking to Reuters, Solberg further added that “they must see the difference between editing out child pornography and editing out history. It's perfectly possible for a company like Facebook to sort this out. Otherwise we risk more censorship."
Following the widespread flak, Facebook backtracked on its decision. Per media reports, the company has issued a statement saying “An image of a naked child would normally be presumed to violate our Community Standards, and in some countries might even qualify as child pornography. In this case, we recognize the history and global importance of this image in documenting a particular moment in time. Because of its status as an iconic image of historical importance, the value of permitting sharing outweighs the value of protecting the community by removal, so we have decided to reinstate the image on Facebook where we are aware it has been removed.”
FACEBOOK INC-A Price
FACEBOOK INC-A Price | FACEBOOK INC-A Quote
Facebook has been courting controversy for a while now, given its somewhat obscure rules on censorship. Earlier this year, Facebook chose not to take down a video of an African American, Philando Castile bleeding to death after being shot by a white policeman. The video was streamed by his fiancée on Facebook Live. The death of Castile and a few other such incidents resulted in a week of violent protests across the U.S and brought issues of racial intolerance into focus.
Again, things took a nasty turn in Dallas when a sniper by the name of Micah Xavier Johnson, a war veteran who reportedly acted alone, shot dead five policemen and grievously injured another two. This time, an eyewitness, Michael Bautista live streamed the incident on Facebook Live.
The disturbing and graphic video uploads on a public platform raised critical questions, prompting Facebook to issue a statement. The company said that in case of sensitive videos like those mentioned above “context and degree are everything. For instance, if a person witnessed a shooting, and used Facebook Live to raise awareness or find the shooter, we would allow it. However, if someone shared the same video to mock the victim or celebrate the shooting, we would remove the video.”
The company’s own inconsistency at monitoring posts is baffling. The Vietnam War photo reflects the horror of wars and in no way can it be considered as “promoting” child pornography/nudity.
We believe Facebook has to bring more consistency to its review policy. Curbing freedom of expression or undermining democracy is something that users won’t be very forgiving about. And for a company like Facebook, which thrives on users and engagement levels, loss of this key metric does not bode well for its financial performance. With over 1.7 billion users, Facebook remains the biggest social media service.
At present, Facebook sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). Others stocks in the tech space worth considering includeChangyou.com Limited , NetEase, Inc. (NTES - Free Report) and NetApp, Inc. (NTAP - Free Report) . All these stocks carry a Zacks Rank#1.You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Interested in IPOs? Check out the special edition of Zacks Friday Finish Line below, where Editor Maddy Johnson and Content Writer Ryan McQueeney interview Kathleen Smith of Renaissance Capital about the IPO market in 2016 (see part two here).
Confidential from Zacks
Beyond this Analyst Blog, would you like to see Zacks' best recommendations that are not available to the public? Our Executive VP, Steve Reitmeister, knows when key trades are about to be triggered and which of our experts has the hottest hand. Click to see them now>>