Other Third-party Reaction
Facebook will continue to make independent decisions about the timing and rollout of products. While these must be consistent with the Principles and in compliance with the Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, they will not be subject to the notice and comment or voting requirements.
We’re also putting together a council.
User Council
The Statement of Rights and Responsibilities was drafted to address the common issues raised by users on the officially established Facebook Bill of Rights and Responsibilities Group, jointly administered by the company and two concerned users, Julius Harper of Los Angeles and Anne Kathrine Yojana Petterøe of Oslo, Norway.
Facebook press release on new governance plan
10:58
[Comment From Gabriel:] For anyone interested, I just found this document (http://www.facebook.com/press/releases.php?p=85587) probably explaining what is happening exactly… basically, users will be able to review, vote and edit on any change proposed to their TOS
Following the first Town Halls, The Facebook Principles and the Statement of Rights and Responsibilities will be the first set of policies subject to a vote, which may include 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 percent of all active registered users vote.
We’re happy to roll out these policies today
Openness and transparency isn’t just an end state. It’s a process to get get there.
If there’s a large amount of discourse, then we’ll put something up for a vote.
Did you not learn from previous changes that caused an uproar, like beacon, that users were likely to rebel against changes in your terms of service? Why did it take this latest flap to implement these changes?
11:10 One of the 10 Principles of Facebook Service is “Ownership and Control of Information,” which i assume means *user* ownership and control…
The other thing that’s important: The mechanisms we’ve rolled out for user involvement and empowerment.
11:26 Schrage: What was was proposed as the new TOS was consistent with other sites. The irony was that some of the most critical blogs had their own TOSes that were more broad than ours.
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO
11:21 Z: If there’s a change we put out that’s noncontroversial, there won’t be a vote. But if it looks controversial, we’ll put it to vote.
The rights and responsibilties are the operating rules of the site, for us and for the users too.
After the comment period ends, Facebook will review and consider submissions. Facebook will then republish the Principles and Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, incorporating any changes it has made. The company will also provide users a summary of the most common and significant comments received, including its response to those comments, where appropriate.
11:31 Stacy Kramer, Paid Content:
But Mark said the comparison was not appropriate. We have to hold ourselves to a higher standard.
Z: Our new TOS was similar to other TOSes on the Web. It was more of a contract than a governing document.
11:21 Z: It’s really critical we bake this user feedback into governance
Releases draft principles and statement of rights and responsibilities for user review, comment, and vote
The silver lining of the last few weeks: People feel a visceral connection to the rights and responsilbites, and this gives us a good way to involve them
Ironically, the change we made was to shorten the previous TOS from 15 pp to 5. But we made a few mistakes.
What did you learn from News Feed experience that you could have taken into this. Why did it take so long? (sounds like my question?)
We should have been communicating about them (newsfeed, beacon) more broadly. Ultimately it was very good. We learned that being as transparent as possible was a good thing.
There will be periods of time for discourse.
Within the framework of our rules, we’ll build the best product we can.
Question: Do you comply with the laws of the most stringent country you operate in?
“As people share more information on services like Facebook, a new relationship is created between Internet companies and the people they serve,” said Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook. “The past week reminded us that users feel a real sense of ownership over Facebook itself, not just the information they share.”
Transparency and User Input
“The idea that a major company like Facebook would give its users a vote in how the service is governed is remarkable,” said Julius Harper, a Facebook user and a co-founding administrator of the People Against the New Terms of Service group on Facebook. “This decision should go far in restoring people’s trust, and I hope it sets a precedent for other online services to follow.”
Facebook Opens Governance of Service and Policy Process to Users
Elliott: Look at the statement of rights and responsiblities. We have terms for users, developers, advertisers. We’ve shrunk 44pp of materials to about 5, including all three of those terms.
2. This is more foundational. This is one of the only online services where people share so much information.
11:37 Over and out!
Over the coming weeks, users will have the opportunity to review, comment, and vote on these documents. An update to the Privacy Policy is also planned, and this change will be subject to similar input.
11:35 Last question: Ray Valdez, Gartner: How do you fill the gap between plain english agreement and the legal governing doc on the site?
11:05 This new community-aware TOS plan is really interesting… can’t wait to hear Zuck discuss it.
11:17 Z: New changes to the doc will be through a process of notice and comment.
Answer: Not on topic.
11:36
[Comment From Danny:] good luck!
Previously:
EPIC readying federal complaint over Facebook privacy policy.
Facebook: Relax, we won’t sell your photos.
Facebook backs down on privacy terms.
Z: THis is all about trusting our users. And it will result in the best outcome: the best community.
11:14 Zuckerberg:
What we’re annoucning today is new forms of user contols.
We’re talking today about policy, not product.
Facebook privacy press conference live blog 10:49 Rafe: Good morning
The new docs do more than address the confusion over what happened over the past few weeks.
11:18 And now… Questions.
11:16 Z:
It’s a big step, but we’re trying to move the world towards openness.
Last week, we put up old terms after we put up new terms.
Soon, the vast amount of info on the Web will by like this, just shared by ordinary people. So terms of service need to become like this: governing documents.
Ted Elliott: FB General Counsel: We comply with all laws (i think that’s what he said)
There will be hundreds and thousands of product changes going forward, and that’s not what we’re talking about. This is about the rules and framework.
11:36 I’m going to go write up a Webware post on the new terms/policies now.
11:18 Z:
11:17 Z:
If users approve the draft Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, then all future policy changes would be eligible for a vote by users, provided the level of intensity of 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.
11:15 Zuck:
11:37 Sorry i couldn’t get to them all or forward them to the FB team. Will keep them all in mind as I work on my followup.
The governing docs are the framework of how we think about that.
11:23 My question now:
The purpose for FB is to make the world more open and transparent.
Founded in February 2004, Facebook’s mission is to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected. Anyone can sign up for Facebook and interact with the people they know in a trusted environment. Facebook is a privately held company and is headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif.
11:11 Schrage: You (press) should all have copies of the release now. (I do, it’s in the story)
11:20 Kara Swisher: How did you change things without this plan in place. It seems like you just changed the TOS w/o thinking about it.
Elliott: We comply with appropriate laws (didn’t answer as far as I could tell)
Zuckerberg: This announcment is about policy, not product.
Facebook shared today’s news with industry experts and concerned users who offered the following comments in response:
There are new principles… these are the aspirational goals we have for FB and how we want to craft FB going forward and make FB more open.
11:32 Kramer: How important is this financially?
“Companies like ours need to develop new models of governance,” Zuckerberg added. “Rather than simply reissue a new Terms of Use, the changes we’re announcing today are designed to open up Facebook so that users can participate meaningfully in our policies and our future.”
11:02
[Comment From Alonis:] Hi all! So FB is proposing users will be able to review, vote and edit on any change proposed to their TOS ? Well, golly! That would be a great way to handle online community TOS agreements!
We took last week as a strong signal of how much people cared about FB and how much they want to govern it.
11:28 Question from a guy at Forbes (missed his name, sorry): As an increasingly international organization… are you considering international laws?
“This truly breaks new ground by sending a message to the Facebook community that their expectations about how information is used really do matter,” said Jules Polonetsky, co-chair and director of the Future of Privacy Forum. “A company formally handing over a business decision to a user vote is a dramatic step forward for transparency and user control.”
If these documents are approved, then all future policy changes would be subject to notice and comment periods of varying lengths, depending upon the nature of the change. Following the comment period, Facebook would publish a final policy proposal that reflects the comments received.
The document evolved from the Facebook Principles, and will govern Facebook’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.
To be clear: We do not say we own user content and we’re sorry for the confusion.
11:24 Z: 1. Beacon wasn’t a change in terms, it was a feature.
Direct Voting
Elliot Schrage, VP Privacy
More About the New User Participation Mechanisms
PALO ALTO, Calif. - February 26, 2009 - Facebook today announced a new approach to site governance that offers its users around the world an unprecedented role in determining the future policies governing the service. Facebook released the first proposals subject to these new procedures–The Facebook 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.
11:36 Thanks all for your attention and comments.
The Facebook Principles are derived from the belief that certain values should guide the company’s efforts to achieve its mission of making the world more open and connected. 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 these Principles should be constrained only by limitations of law, technology, and evolving social norms about sharing.
The document also codifies the specific requirements that users be given notice, an opportunity to comment, and, in certain cases, approval authority through a vote for policy changes.
11:23 Schrage: We underestimated the sense of ownership people feel over the site.
Z: It doesn’t matter what the industry standard is. This was an opportunity to have a dialog…
11:10 HERE WE GO.
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=54964476066; and Statement of Rights and Responsibilities should join the group at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=67758697570.
Principles of the Facebook Service
Statement of Rights and Responsibilities
“This is an unprecedented action. No other company has made such a bold move towards transparency and democratization,” said Simon Davies, director, Privacy International. “The devil will be in the detail but, overall, we applaud these positive steps and think they foreshadow the future of Web 2.0. We hope Facebook will realize these extraordinary commitments through concrete action, and we challenge the rest of the industry to exceed them.”
11:29 Brian Deacon, Investors Businss Daily: What are you doing to deter phishing and ID theft issues.
11:13 Zuckerberg: Today we’re talking about the new governing documents for Facebook from here on.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg hosted a press conference that started at 11 a.m. PST Thursday to discuss “the new steps Facebook is taking to improve user understanding and ownership of the Facebook terms of service and, more generally, the policies of the Facebook service.” The play-by-play is here. Facebook’s full announcement is posted below as well.
Facebook also announced its intention to establish a user council to participate more closely in the development and discussion of policies and practices. As a start, the company indicated that it would invite the authors of the most insightful and constructive comments on the draft documents to serve as founding members of the group.
About Facebook
11:35 And that’s it!
The document, which condensed almost 40 pages of legal jargon into fewer than six pages, emphasizes clarity and accessibility. It reaffirms that users, not Facebook, own the content they share through Facebook services and that Facebook’s permission to use that content expires when users delete the content or terminate their accounts.
11:11 On the call:
“Facebook’s decision to adopt a notice and comment model of rule making demonstrates a truly unique commitment to transparency,” said Aron Cramer, president and CEO of Business for Social Responsibility. “This step sets a new standard for corporate transparency and stakeholder engagement by applying the principles of social networking in fundamentally new and important ways.”
10:59 Gabriel, that’s what this conference will be about. Intresting new way to get the community involved in writing its own laws. Surprised it took FB this long to figure this out.
Ted Eillot, General Counsel
11:36
[Comment From Sean:] Thanks Rafe. Appreciate this.
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.