How Facebook plans to help creators protect their content online

In light of the recent privacy breaches, the Cambridge Analytica scandal, and other controversies, Facebook is taking steps to win back the trust of consumers, such as banning hate groups and getting tougher on fake news. 

Another way the company plans to do this is by giving more rights to content creators over their images and graphics. In a blog post, the company admitted its current content enforcement “wasn’t perfect”, but it is working with partners to determine when users can use their graphics. 

For example, if someone posts a photo or image on their Facebook page, they will have the right to decide whether other users can use the image. In addition, if the image is reposted, they will have the right to request it is removed or limit the when and where it can be used. 

Although these new rights will cause issues for some users, in particular, those that like to repost memes and pictures, Facebook feels it’s essential to give ownership rights. 

Of course, there are some creators that create images and other content for entertainment purposes. But, there are others that treat it as a business or to make money. These individuals are dependent on protecting their intellectual property so they can continue to make a profit. 

“We want to make sure that we understand the use case very, very well from that set of trusted partners before we expand it out because, as you can imagine, a tool like this is a pretty sensitive one and a pretty powerful one, and we want to make sure that we have guardrails in place to ensure that people are able to use it safely and properly,” said Dave Axelgard, product manager of creator and publisher experience at Facebook, in a comment to The Verge.

For creators that want to use this tool, an application can be submitted on an application. Then, provided they are a page admin, they can access Rights Manager, which will find any matching content on Facebook or Instagram. The user can then request that the content is removed.