The BBC said it used Facebook’s ‘report button’ to flag up 100 indecent photos of children, but 82 were not removed. Instead, journalists were sent an automated response saying the images didn’t breach its ‘community standards’.
Among the items not allowed under Facebook’s community standards is ‘sexually suggestive content’.
The photos included under-16s in sexualised poses, pages aimed at paedophiles, and an image appearing to have been taken from a child abuse video.
When examples of the permitted images were sent to Facebook, the company instead reported the journalists to police for sharing the pictures, the broadcaster reported.
The BBC also said Facebook failed to remove the profiles of five convicted paedophiles.
Damian Collins said the findings were ‘very disturbing’ (Picture: PA)
Damian Collins, chairman of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, expressed ‘grave doubts’ at the social media giant’s ability to moderate content.
‘I find it very disturbing, I find that content unacceptable,’ he said.
‘I think it raises the question of how users can make effective complaints to Facebook about content that is disturbing, shouldn’t be on the site, and have confidence that that will be acted upon.’
Anne Longfield, the Children’s Commissioner for England, added that she was ‘very disappointed’ by the revelations.
Facebook’s UK Policy Director, Simon Milner, told Metro.co.uk: ‘We have carefully reviewed the content referred to us and have now removed all items that were illegal or against our standards. This content is no longer on our platform.
‘We take this matter extremely seriously and we continue to improve our reporting and take-down measures. Facebook has been recognised as one of the best platforms on the internet for child safety.
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