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Facebook to Allow Users to Participate in Policies, Terms of Use
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by Jarrett Martineau | February 26, 2009 at 01:10 pm
179 views | 14 Recommendations | 1 comment
After much back and forth (and backlash) regarding the recent launch — and subsequent retraction — of its allegedly restrictive 'new' Terms of Service, social networking giant Facebook announced Thursday that it is seeking to develop and institute "new models of governance" that, among other things, will allow users to participate in the site's current and future policies, regulations, and Terms of Use.
Our main goal at Facebook is to help make the world more open and transparent. We believe that if we want to lead the world in this direction, then we must set an example by running our service in this way.
We sat down to work on documents that could be the foundation of this and we came to an interesting realization—that the conventional business practices around a Terms of Use document are just too restrictive to achieve these goals. We decided we needed to do things differently and so we're going to develop new policies that will govern our system from the ground up in an open and transparent way.
Whether this can be widely understood as a new benchmark of corporate transparency and accountability, or as simply a PR exercise designed to placate many of the site's frustrated and skeptical users is still undetermined, however, it does appear to be a step in the right direction.
To that end, the company has announced two new documents — its statement of Principles and a Statement of Rights and Responsibilities — both of which will be able to be discussed, commented, and voted on during a 30 day time period in which Facebook will hold "virtual Town Halls" to allow user discussion.
Facebook committed to holding virtual Town Halls following the announcement of the new Principles and Statement of Rights and Responsibilities for 30 days, with the comment period scheduled to close at 12:01 a.m. PDT on March 29. During this time, users have an opportunity to comment on the proposed policy.
This also addresses specific concerns raised by users on the Facebook Bill of Rights and Responsibilities Group. Users are invited to comment on the Principles, and on the Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, by joining the following new groups specifically created for such comments; Principles at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=54... and Statement of Rights and Responsibilities should join the group at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=67....
Following the 30 day period, Facebook plans to "review and consider submissions" and the re-launch the documents again, after incorporating any changes it has made.
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Additionally, the site plans to allow a period for user voting and consideration in advance of future policies and it plans to establish a "user council" that would be able "to participate more closely in the development and discussion of policies and practices".
What do you think of this proposed change? Is Facebook finally getting it right — and have they earned your trust?
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Jarrett Martineau
Vancouver, Canada
mark_am_kramer
Austriaandrewfeinberg
Rockville, Maryland, United Statespolvero
San Francisco, California, United States
mafik66
abadan, Iranmacdavid
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (1)
at 02:32 on March 3rd, 2009
I still am hesitant about (re)using Facebook. I deactivated my account because I do not think they have their act together yet.
I would really like to know who is in charge of making decisions at Facebook! We all deservce an answer to this quesiton. Recent actions of Facebook demonstrate that they are operating in a state of anarchy with no true leadership. Furthermore, Facebook has proven that it does not properly think out the consequences of their actions. FLip FLoppers!