[Wamvan] We Won!

[Jarrah]

Hoping some of you already saw this, but at any rate I'm super happy about
it. Thanks to everyone who put in your two cents via Twitter or email to
Facebook advertisers.

http://www.womenactionmedia.org/fbagreement/

Last Tuesday, Women, Action & the Media, the Everyday Sexism Project and
author/activist Soraya Chemaly launched a campaign to call on Facebook to
take concrete, effective action to end gender-based hate speech on its
site. Since then, participants sent over 60,000 tweets and 5000 emails, and
our coalition has grown to over 100 women’s movement and social justice
organizations.

Today, we are pleased to announce that Facebook has responded with a
important commitment to refine its approach to hate speech. Facebook has
admirably done more than most other companies to address this topic in
regards to content policy. In a statement released today, Facebook
addressed our concerns and committed to evaluating and updating its
policies, guidelines and practices relating to hate speech, improving
training for its content moderators and increasing accountability for
creators of misogynist content.

Facebook has also invited Women, Action & the Media, The Everyday Sexism
Project and members of our coalition to contribute to these efforts and be
part of an ongoing conversation. As part of these efforts, we will work
closely with Facebook on the issue of how Community Standards around hate
speech are evaluated and to ensure best practices represent the interests
of our coalition.

For details regarding Facebook’s response, please visit
here<https://www.facebook.com/notes/facebook-safety/controversial-harmful-and-hateful-speech-on-facebook/574430655911054>
.

Facebook has already been a leader on the internet in addressing hate
speech on its service. We believe that this is the foundation for an
effective working collaboration designed to confront gender-based hate
speech effectively. Our mutual intent is to create safe spaces, both on and
off-line. We see this as a vital and essential component to the valuable
work that Facebook is doing to address cyber-bulling, harassment and real
harm.

“It is because Facebook has committed to having policies to address these
issues that we felt it was necessary to take these actions and press for
that commitment to fully recognize how the real world safety gap
experienced by women globally is dynamically related to our online lives,”
explains Soraya Chemaly.

“We have been inspired and moved beyond expression by the outpouring of
energy, creativity and support for this campaign from communities,
companies and individuals around the world. It is a testament to the
strength of public feeling behind these issues.” says Laura Bates, founder
of the Everyday Sexism Project.

Jaclyn Friedman, executive director of Women Action and the Media (WAM!),
said: “We are reaching an international tipping point in attitudes towards
rape and violence against women. We hope that this effort stands as a
testament to the power of collaborative action.”

We are hopeful that this moment will mark an historic transition in
relation to media and women’s rights in which Facebook is acknowledged as a
leader in fostering safer, genuinely inclusive online communities, setting
industry precedents for others to follow.We look forward to collaborating
with these communities on actions both big and small until we live in a
world that’s safe and just for women and girls, and for everyone.


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Jarrah Hodge
@jarrahpenguin
http://gender-focus.com
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