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PRESS RELEASE
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2009
Facebook Opens Governance of Service and PolicyProcess to Users
Releases Draft Principles and Statement of Rights and ResponsibilitiesFor User Review, Comment and Vote
PALO ALTO, Calif. – February 26, 2008 –
Facebook® today announced a newapproach to site governance that offers its users around the world anunprecedented role in determining the future policies governing the service.Facebook released the first proposals subject to these new procedures – TheFacebook Principles, a set of values that will guide the development of the service,and Statement of Rights and Responsibilities that make clear Facebook’s and users’commitments related to the service. Over the coming weeks, users will have theopportunity to review, comment and vote on these documents. An update to thePrivacy Policy is also planned and this change will be subject to similar input.“As people share more information on services like Facebook, a new relationship iscreated between Internet companies and the people they serve," said MarkZuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook. “The past week reminded us that usersfeel a real sense of ownership over Facebook itself, not just the information theyshare."“Companies like ours need to develop new models of governance,” Zuckerbergadded. "Rather than simply reissue a new Terms of Use, the changes we’reannouncing today are designed to open up Facebook so that users can participatemeaningfully in our policies and our future.”“This is an unprecedented action. No other company has made such a bold movetowards transparency and democratization,” said Simon Davies, Director, PrivacyInternational. “The devil will be in the detail but, overall, we applaud these positivesteps and think they foreshadow the future of web 2.0. We hope Facebook willrealize these extraordinary commitments through concrete action and we challengethe rest of the industry to exceed them.”Facebook will continue to make independent decisions about the timing and rolloutof products. While these must be consistent with the Principles and in compliancewith the Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, they will not be subject to thenotice and comment or voting requirements.
Contacts presse : Agence Ballou PR
Sarah MICHAUD et Nadia BOUSSOUAR01 42 22 98 69 / 96 88sarah@balloupr.com / nadia@balloupr.com
PRESS RELEASE
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Principles of the Facebook Service The Facebook Principles are derived from the belief that certain values should guidethe company's efforts to achieve its mission of making the world more open andconnected. The 10 Principles include the "Freedom to Share and Connect","Fundamental Equality" of people on Facebook, "Ownership and Control of Information," and other basic tenets of the Facebook service. Achieving thesePrinciples should be constrained only by limitations of law, technology, and evolvingsocial norms about sharing.Statement of Rights and Responsibilities The Statement of Rights and Responsibilities was drafted to address the commonissues raised by users on the officially established Facebook Bill of Rights andResponsibilities Group, jointly administered by the company and two concernedusers, Julius Harper of Los Angeles and Anne Kathrine Yojana Petterøe of Oslo,Norway. The document evolved from the Facebook Principles, and will governFacebook's relationship with users and others who interact with it. Once finalized,the Statement will take the place of Facebook's existing Terms of Use, Developer Terms of Service, and the Facebook Advertising Terms and Conditions. The document, which condensed almost 40 pages of legal jargon into fewer than sixpages, emphasizes clarity and accessibility. It reaffirms that users, not Facebook,own the content they share through Facebook services and that Facebook'spermission to use that content expires when users delete the content or terminatetheir accounts. The document also codifies the specific requirements that users begiven notice, an opportunity to comment, and, in certain cases, approval authoritythrough a vote for policy changes.More About the New User Participation Mechanisms Transparency and User InputFacebook committed to holding virtual Town Halls following the announcement of the new Principles and Statement of Rights and Responsibilities for 30 days, with thecomment period scheduled to close at 12:01 am PDT on March 29. During this time,users have an opportunity to comment on the proposed policy. This also addressesspecific concerns raised by users on the Facebook Bill of Rights and ResponsibilitiesGroup. Users are invited to comment on the Principles, and on the Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, by joining the following new groups specifically createdfor such comments; Principles athttp://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=54964476066; and Statement of Rightsand Responsibilities should join the group at
Contacts presse : Agence Ballou PR
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http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=67758697570.After the comment period ends, Facebook will review and consider submissions.Facebook will then republish the Principles and Statement of Rights andResponsibilities, incorporating any changes it has made. The company will alsoprovide users a summary of the most common and significant comments received,including its response to those comments where appropriate.If these documents are approved, then all future policy changes would be subject tonotice and comment periods of varying lengths depending upon the nature of thechange. Following the comment period, Facebook would publish a final policyproposal that reflects the comments received.Direct VotingFollowing the first Town Halls, The Facebook Principles and the Statement of Rightsand Responsibilities will be the first set of policies subject to a vote, which mayinclude other alternatives. The vote will be open to all Facebook users active as of February 25, 2009. The results of the vote will be made public and will be binding if more than 30% of all active registered users vote.If users approve the draft Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, then all futurepolicy changes would be eligible for a vote by users, provided the level of intensityof user interest would justify it. User interest would be determined by the number of users who comment on any proposed change during the comment period.User CouncilFacebook also announced its intention to establish a user council to participate moreclosely in the development and discussion of policies and practices. As a start, thecompany indicated that it would invite the authors of the most insightful andconstructive comments on the draft documents to serve as founding members of the group.Other Third-party ReactionFacebook shared today's news with industry experts and concerned users whooffered the following comments in response.“This truly breaks new ground by sending a message to the Facebook communitythat their expectations about how information is used really do matter,” said JulesPolonetsky, Co-Chair and Director of the Future of Privacy Forum. “A companyformally handing over a business decision to a user vote is a dramatic step forward
Contacts presse : Agence Ballou PR
Sarah MICHAUD et Nadia BOUSSOUAR01 42 22 98 69 / 96 88sarah@balloupr.com / nadia@balloupr.com
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