Live: Facebook Terms of Service Announcement

Mark Zuckerberg: Today we’re going to discuss the new governing documents of Facebook. As the service grows to 175 million users, openness is not an end state but it’s also a process. It’s a framework of how we want to think about it and move forward with it. We took last week as a strong signal of how people wanted to be involved in the governing process. These are the foundational policies that we are putting in place for the site going forward. We’ll talk today about policy and not about product.

There will be hundreds and thousands of product changes over time but this call is just to discuss how we’ll be moving forward. There are new mechanisms for user involvement in modifying documents. If we want the world to be more open and transparent then having an open process is the only way to do that.

We want to be clear that we do not own user data and we feel bad that we gave this impression. Now we are going to open up for more questions.

Kara Swisher: How did you get to changing this without the transparency and what drove you to change it initially without making it public?

Mark Zuckerberg: Initially it was more of a contract then a governing document. We think that this time around it’s unprecedented in involving the users. What we’re doing here is we’re writing into the Facebook terms of service that users can have feedback and even vote on the terms. For how important a service this is to a lot of people, it’s really important that we build the governance into this.

Kara Swisher: When you say vote what does that mean? Who get’s to choose what happens.

Elliot Schrage: It’s not an up or down vote, and we’re confident that people will participate.

Rafe Needleman: Did you not learn from previous changes? Why did it take this latest slap to implement this new focus?

Mark Zuckerberg: Beacon was not about the terms of service. This is more of a dialogue around the governing terms of the site.

Elliot Schrage: Part of the challenge is that what was proposed in the new terms was remarkably similar in what other sites have. Some of the blogs that were critical of us have had some of the same types of terms. Mark Zuckerberg believes that we need to hold ourselves to a higher level.

Taylor Buley (Forbes): You mentioned the amount of user involvement here is unprecedented. The main reason this is unpreceted is that many of the laws around this country are very ambiguous. How are you considering international laws here? Will you revise your terms in accordance with your most stringent policies?

Ted: We’ll adjust as necessary.

Brian Deacon (IBD): Can you comment at all about steps to that Facebook is taking to prevent phishing and security threats?

Elliot: This is not the purpose of the call thanks.

Stacy Kramer (Paid Content): You were asked about Beacon but this goes back as far as the news feed changes to community response to corporate moves. What can you learn from those that should be taken into all of this and why did it take this long?

Mark Zuckerberg: This is something we should have a lot of dialogue about. We’ll keep building the product the best that we can. We aren’t always best served by communicating about all these things but we will stay in contact with the community.
Stacy Kramer, Follow On: How important is it to make sure people feel part of this community?

Mark Zuckerberg: We think this discussion will help strengthen the community. Listening to user input is extremely valuable.

Ray Valdez (Gartner): The statement will take place over the existing terms of service and the developer terms. If you aggregate all the legal contracts, that’s a lot of changes. How do you fill the gap between the legalese and straight-forward english. Isn’t there a need for contract language at some point?

Mark Z: It must include all the activities that all users on the site are involved in.

Ted Ullyot: We’ve reduced all three terms down to one document and we think that we will be able to find a good balance here.

—–
The press release is below:

Facebook(R) 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. 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.

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

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.

Principles of the Facebook Service

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.

Statement of Rights and Responsibilities

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 Petteroe of Oslo, Norway. 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.
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. 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.

More About the New User Participation Mechanisms

Transparency and User Input

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 am PDT on March 29. During this time, users have an opportunity to comment on the proposed policy. 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.

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.

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.

Direct Voting

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% of all active registered users vote.

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.

User Council

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.

Other Third-party Reaction

Facebook shared today’s news with industry experts and concerned users who offered the following comments in response.

“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.”

“Facebook’s decision to adopt a notice and comment model of rulemaking 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.”
“The idea that a major company like Facebook would give it’s 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.”

About Facebook

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.

Media and others interested in receiving Facebook news are invited to join the Official Group for Media & Analysts Following Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/reqs.php#/group.php?gid=2388584547.

Facebook(R) is a registered trademark of Facebook Inc. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.