Many Facebook users may have noticed that graphic images of Reeva Steenkamp’s fatal injuries have been made public, and were posted on the social media site by many users.
Attorney Tamara Stork explained, “Images posted on Facebook are not subject to the Film and Publications Act No 65 of 1996, or the Press Ombudsman and Press Code, which newspapers and similar publications are subject to.
“Accordingly, anyone can post content on Facebook, so long as one complies with Facebook’s terms and conditions and also Facebook’s community standards.”
Stork has conducted extensive research on these community standards and explained that the policies within these community standards deal with an array of issues such as criminal activity and sexual violence.
“These standards consider the best interests of the public and are aimed at making people feel safe when using Facebook. It is important to keep in mind that these policies highlight that because of the diversity of our global community, what may disturb one resident, may not disturb another,” she explained.
There have been reports that Facebook has placed ‘clickable warnings’ over graphic content. During Stork’s research, she came across a quote from Facebook’s website, which stated: “People come to Facebook to share their experiences… To help people share responsibly, we may limit the visibility of photos and videos that contain graphic content. A photo or video containing graphic content may appear with a warning to let people know about the content before they view it, and may only be visible to people older than 18.”
However, Stork raised a question with regards to this and said, “But to date, I have not seen this warning, despite reports that this was rolled out in December last year. Unfortunately for sensitive Facebook users, the graphic images of Steenkamp did not come with any warnings, and can obviously be traumatic to view.”
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