The latest hot-button issue for Facebook, as discussed yesterday, is beheading videos, and today Facebook issued a new statement clarifying that, well, maybe not all beheading videos will be appropriate for the site.

The topic came up after a video of a masked man beheading a woman in Mexico circulated on the site in the context of rallying people to "condemn" the act. Ultimately they decided that the video "improperly and irresponsibly glorifies violence," and they therefore removed it.

While Facebook says it will continue to allow such postings, within reason, so long as they are in the public interest and not purely for "sadistic pleasure," they now say they will try to "strengthen" the process by which they review and approve such violent or graphic content.

Per the statement:

"When we review content that is reported to us, we will take a more holistic look at the context surrounding a violent image or video. Second, we will consider whether the person posting the content is sharing it responsibly, such as accompanying the video or image with a warning and sharing it with an age-appropriate audience."

While they're at it, they might also want to "strengthen" the means through which they're reviewing sexually offensive content, since apparently an image of two burly men kissing, from the shoulders up, was deemed offensive enough to get a gay user's account suspended recently.

[NYT]
[Daily Mail]