The United States-based social media conglomerate, Facebook is a social networking service that enables users to connect with friends and family. I am sure that we all know this already but the giant has several other services under it that become an umbrella for social media in the world.
Recently, Facebook has introduced a new corporate human rights policy that will cover its entire social media portfolio to support the human rights defenders and even fund them for their good cause.
Facebook Inc. is often criticised for its human rights abuses and the company wants to change that with this new corporate human rights policy which will set out its standards in this regard. As mentioned in a report by Economic Times, the U.S.-based social media conglomerate will strive to respect these new standards of human rights policy which are defined in the UNGPs which stands for “United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights”.
Miranda Sissons. Director of Human Rights mentioned in a statement that Facebook Inc. has set out certain guidelines on how will it apply this new corporate human rights policy to the overall programming of the business, its applications and policies etc. She further says that Facebook will report the most critical human right- Freedom of Speech along with other rights to the company’s Board of Directors.
Furthermore, Facebook Inc. has also revealed that it is creating a fund that will provide human rights defenders with offline assistance in facing critical threats and problems. The social media conglomerate is aiming to support corporate human rights with its new digital security efforts which are reportedly beginning in Asia by the end of the year.
Not just this, Facebook has also promised to release a public report every year that will disclose the company’s human rights concerns addressed in that year, budding out of its whole product portfolio, business practices in general and policies.
The company also mentions launching advanced security options to protect defenders’ rights and efforts that include combating several entities that are targeting them. Incorrect content removal is also a very necessary step that will be undertaken by Facebook Inc. under its new corporate human rights policy.
According to a report by Economic Times, Sissons mentioned that the yearly report will be built on the company’s existing practice of revealing human rights’ impact assessment with detailed responses to all recommendation.
If you haven’t heard already, Facebook Inc. has already given a decision on Anti-Muslim speech and has also banned certain accounts from the military junta that lead to a massive coup in Myanmar.
