In a bid to check the spike in harmful content spreading on its platforms, social networking giant Meta has announced it is temporarily limiting "default comment settings" on Facebook amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. The Mark Zuckerberg-owned company, in an update, said that the change was an effort to “protect people in the region from potentially unwelcome or unwanted comments".
"Our policies are designed to keep people safe on our apps while giving everyone a voice. We apply these policies equally around the world and there is no truth to the suggestion that we are deliberately suppressing voice. However, content containing praise for Hamas, which is designated by Meta as a Dangerous Organization, or violent and graphic content, for example, is not allowed on our platforms," Meta said in a statement.
The company has changed the default setting for who can comment on newly created public Facebook posts of people in the affected region to "Friends" and/or established "followers" only. Users globally can choose to use this setting and opt in or out at any time, and Meta is notifying people in the region with specific instructions on how to change this setting.
The company is also making easier for people to bulk delete comments on their posts and it has disabled the feature that normally displays the first one or two comments under posts in Facebook Feed.
Meta recently rolled out the "Lock Your Profile" tool in the region that lets people to lock their Facebook profile in one step.
"When someone’s profile is locked, people who aren’t their friends can’t download, enlarge or share their profile photo, nor can they see posts or other photos on someone’s profile, regardless of when they may have posted it," the company explained.
According to researchers, it is getting harder to verify information and track the spread of misinformation, adding to the digital fog of war, amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. A European regulator has cautioned social media sites such as Elon Musk-owned X, Meta and TikTok to stay vigilant on content moderation and reminded them they could be fined if they do not adequately protect their platforms.