Facebook Has PORN COPS?

Facebook has ‘PORN COPS’! Seriously, though – according to the Newsweek article, Facebook has 150 people employed to keep the site clean. Along with the obvious obscenity no-no’s of drugs, nudity and pornography, apparently there are semiformal rules, which they have coined as the “Fully Exposed Butt Rule, the Crack Rule and the Nipple Rule” that function as the rule of thumb for the Porn Cops to decide whether or not one of the “report this” flagged photos is, indeed, obscene.

The article touches on keeping up a level of decorum such that even the most “upscale professionals” will want to use Facebook, but at the same time doesn’t become too conservative as to upset its current community of members.

I tend to consider myself one of the “original” Facebook users. I joined the site in September, 2004 when Facebook was still only available to the college community. I may be one of the extremes, but since then I could probably count on my fingers the number of days that I have not logged into my account.

Leaving home and going off to college is such a force in the molding of an individual’s personality development. My young adulthood has been seriously intertwined with Facebook usage, so I’m wondering what would be (is there even?) the kicker for me to actually delete my account.

The ‘Porn Cops’ are not meddling with my use of Facebook – if anything they are encouraging my account’s longevity. In college, Facebook was a great way to stay in touch with friends. But after college – being “social” isn’t just about getting tagged in all the right photos from all the right parties; instead there is an aspect of professionalism. With the increase of so many upscale brands and powerhouses on Facebook, socializing is no longer just a casual peer to peer phenomenon. I want to stay on Facebook, because this new form of socializing offers me a form of professional progression. Right now the ‘porn cops’ are doing their job of managing the decorum such that said professionals are joining Facebook while at the same time preserving a licit level of “cool” for its veteran community of young adult users.

But, let’s take this a step further and address that age old question: what IS obscene? Facebook, like any other community is confronted with the responsibility of maintaining a level of safety for its users. Legal partnership with police enforcement is certainly a positive in terms of getting to the bottom of real, detrimental crimes like murders, kidnappings etc. But, I remember back when I was in college and police were using Facebook as a tool to bust underage parties, users reevaluated making Facebook event invites. When it comes to illegal activities, it’s probably not the best idea to tag yourself in pictures downing shots when you are underage. But, as far as “obscenity” is concerned – should Facebook really be devoting so much energy preserving the “Face” component of its community; is showing our body on Facebook REALLY that obscene?

If an 18 year old + woman wants to have pictures of her “nipples” all over the Internet that is her choice. Well, just so long as they aren’t on Facebook, seeing as though Facebook has followed suit with other social networking sites and labeled itself as one of the Internet’s nudie-free zones. The article discusses the Facebook group named “Hey Facebook, Breastfeeding Is Not Obscene!” in regards to the pictures of breastfeeding moms having their photos taken down because their nipples are showing. Be it sexually robust photos of nipples, or maternally positioned photos of nipples – sorry, ladies: Facebook unequivocally pegs your nipples as obscene. (Have we SERIOUSLY reverted back in time to patriarchal specifications for a woman’s body…especially in terms of BREAST FEEDING?)

What is this decorum that Facebook is striving to enforce, or perhaps rephrased: what type of community is Facebook trying to define itself as? If Facebook goes way too lax, turning into a sexually spammed community, yes – respectable brands, professionals, and individuals will presumably discontinue their account. But, what if Facebook goes police state on its content? What happens if they alter their ‘porn cops’ into a conglomerate version of hawkish patriarchal, legal cops who snoop from private profile to profile taking down “obscene” photos?

It seems as if we have an issue of public vs. private here. The Internet is a public space, and Facebook is essentially a private community. But, within this community, users can make their page/profile/group “private,” which in turn provides them with a private space. Must a user’s private space be contingent on Facebook’s privately defined definition of obscene? Legally, yes. But, are these legalities going to become far too stifling for users such that they find themselves editing and censoring such drastic portions of their physical identity in their digital identity?

Can you be naked and still be professional? Or must Facebook pose itself as a naked free zone within the Internet in order to win the advertisers and professionals they seek to include? What IS obscene has continually been reevaluated and redefined in just about every other community that it’s been an issue, so in what direction will Facebook push these ‘porn cops’ the next time “obscenity” is evaluated. Will we all be doomed to just one photo per profile: a mug shot – simply prisoners to the Facebook community?