Facebook has been long targeted for criticism over its
handling of human right issues. The company is now counteracting by introducing
a new corporate human rights policy, under which it is committing two things: providing
an annual report on its impact on human rights and a fund for human rights
defenders.
Facebook says that it will report its “most critical human rights issues, like risks to freedom of expression” to its board of directors, while the fund for defenders will be I the form of offline support for activists and journalists. The company’s director of human rights Miranda Sissons added that Facebook will also continue supporting digital security efforts like “thwarting unauthorized access” to accounts of activists.
Facebook’s corporate
human rights policy is just a new policy, while the company’s existing community
standards, privacy policy, and code of conduct remains unchanged.
This is not the first time Facebook has taken action against
human rights violation. The company has banned accounts from the military junta that
led the coup in Myanmar and delivered a decision on anti-Muslim hate speech.
