Thread by @brianfishman

[Work Thread Coming Up!] Today, Facebook has updated its public information about the Dangerous Individuals and Organizations policy, in line with recommendations from the Oversight Board made in early 2021. facebook.com/communitystand…

The policies aren’t changing, but we are providing more detail about them—in ways that have been a long time coming. I’m really glad we are taking this step. 2/

As a reminder, Facebook assesses DOI entities based on their behavior both online and offline. Most significant is an entity’s engagement with violence. Under various elements of the policy (some relatively new), we designate individuals, organizations, and networks of people. 3/

So, what’s new? First, we are illustrating how these designations fall into three tiers that correspond with different enforcement paradigms. 4/

Entities in the Tier 1 category may not be Praised, Substantively Supported, or Represented on FB, though we do allow criticism, humor, and informational discussion. Entities in Tier 2 may not be Substantively Supported or Represented, nor Praised for violent activities. 5/

Tier 3 entities may not coordinate (Groups, Pages, dedicated Profiles, etc) on platform, but we don’t remove all content regarding them. 6/

Second are public definitions of a range of categories under the DOI policy. All are terms of art. You’ll see: Hate Banned Entities, Violent Non-State Actors, Violence Inducing Conspiracy Networks, & Militarized Social Movements. All of the new ones fall into Tier 2 or Tier 3. 7/

Third, we are providing definitions for “Praise,” “Substantive Support,” and “Representation,” which are also terms of art. (“Substantive Support” is the same idea as the historical use of the word “Support.”) 8/

Now, a couple of thoughts: The FB DOI policy has long been the bluntest and most aggressive in industry. Over time, the policy has grown more nuanced to allow Praise of some political actors and groups engaged in insurgency without targeting civilians. 9/

The DOI space is fundamentally adversarial. Balancing transparency while dangerous groups adjust tactics is difficult and we do it imperfectly. 10/

Our internal teams catch more of these shifts than folks realize, but research tracking these changes is really valuable. When you point out the shifts that lead to enforcement misses: that’s productive criticism. Thank you. 11/

Concern about adversarial shifts does impact FB’s approach to transparency on DOI. We don’t want to pass information that will help dangerous groups avoid detection and facilitate harm. They constantly adjust as is. 12/

I know some of you will ask about other OB requests, including re DOI policies. Please refer to FB's official responses on those. 13/

Finally, I want to note that external folks don’t always know when they’ve had an impact on the policy deliberations inside FB. Sometimes you’re consulted formally; sometimes internal folks are just reading your work. Please keep the thoughtful stuff coming. 14/

The OB is a key voice, & they had an important impact here. But so too did many researchers & others calling for disclosure, incl many internal colleagues. Thanks to everyone doing serious work on these issues. It’s not always a straight line, but you are having impact. /End

Actually, one post-script: This is an important update, but it doesn't mean we're done. The world is changing & the structure of extremist and militant entities is evolving. Like everyone else, FB will wrestle with those shifts and need to adjust.