Meta to block sharing of home addresses on Facebook, Instagram

Meta Platforms said it will restrict sharing of private home addresses on Facebook and Instagram even if they are publicly available.

Prior to this, Meta prohibited the sharing of private information but made a general exception for information that is publicly available.

Meta had approached the board last year for help as it didn’t want to curb free speech on its platform, but at the same time didn’t want to put user safety at risk by allowing sharing of home addresses. 

The Oversight Board, in its recommendation, said that Meta should remove the exception that allows the sharing of private home addresses when considered publicly available.

According to Meta, sharing home addresses can be an important tool for journalists, civic activists, and other public discourse. However, “exposing this information without consent can also create a risk to an individual’s safety and infringe on privacy,” the company said in a post.

Following the board’s recommendation, Meta acknowledged that implementing this can improve privacy protections on its social networks.

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“We will fully implement this recommendation, as well as the board’s recommendation that we allow the sharing of imagery that displays the external view of private residences in various scenarios, but not when there is a context of organising protests against the resident,” Meta said in the post.

Social media has emerged as a powerful tool for mobilising people for protests and activism. However, sharing home addresses can also put people at risk of physical harm.

Facebook Oversight Board is an independent body set up by Meta in May 2020 with 20 founding members. It was created to help the social media company navigate through controversial content such as hate speech on its social networks. Its objective is to make recommendations to Meta on what to allow and what to take down from its networks. It is part of the company’s effort to self-regulate or face more stringent top-down regulations.

India too had updated its social media rules and guidelines in February 2021 to make intermediaries such as Facebook more accountable to the public and local laws.