Facebook Clarifies Violence, Nudity Policies

Facebook has angered many, including gay people and drag queens, over their banning policies. Now it's making clear what's acceptable and what's not.

The company clarified its community standards Monday, hoping to erase some of the gray area that surrounds its policies. The new rules indicate that officials with Facebook, which has nearly 1.4 billion users around the world, think carefully about what to allow on the site and what to block. In October, Facebook reversed its policy that demanded drag queens use their birth names on their pages.

The latest update says photographs of genitals and buttocks will not be allowed and could lead to users being banned. Pictures of breast-feeding or post-mastectomy breasts are admissible, as are nude paintings and sculptures, reports The New York Times.

Violent and threatening content remains ban-worthy, and that includes the beheading videos circulated by ISIS and photos portraying violence against victims thought to be gay.

Facebook will also not tolerate bullying or revenge porn circulated by users. The site's employees will not scan profiles to search for some content; they wait until an objectionable post is reported by a user. Review teams operate 24 hours a day.

If a user is suspended or banned, an appeals process -- monitored by actual humans -- is in place.