Facebook announces new corporate human rights policy

Facebook, often criticised for its role in human rights abuses? online, has introduced a new corporate human rights policy, covering all of the social network and a fund to support human rights defenders.

The new policy sets out the human rights standards Facebook will strive to respect as defined in international law including the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs).

“It sets out how we will apply these standards to our apps and products, policies, programming, and overall approach to our business. We will report our most critical human rights issues, like risks to freedom of expression, to our Board of Directors,” said Miranda Sissons, Director of Human Rights on Wednesday.

Facebook will also release a public report annually on how it is addressing human rights concerns stemming from its products, policies or business practices.

Sissons said that the yearly report will build on its existing practice of disclosing human rights impact assessments and detailed responses to recommendations.

Facebook has recently banned accounts from the military junta that led the coup in Myanmar.

The independent Oversight Board has also delivered its first rulings, including a decision on anti-Muslim hate speech.

Facebook said that it is also creating a fund that will give offline assistance to human rights defenders facing critical threats and support new digital security efforts, beginning in Asia later this year.

“We’ll also build on our existing work to protect defenders’ accounts efforts that include combating malicious actors who are targeting them, protecting them from incorrect content removals and offering advanced security options,” the company said.