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Facebook's leaked dick pic policy shifts blame away from the victim

An internal memo shows how Facebook is dealing with nonconsensual nudes.

Gordon Gottsegen CNET contributor
Gordon Gottsegen is a tech writer who has experience working at publications like Wired. He loves testing out new gadgets and complaining about them. He is the ghost of all failed Kickstarters.
Gordon Gottsegen
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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks at a conference.

James Martin/CNET

Facebook has a problem with dick pics, but a leaked memo obtained by Motherboard shows what the social network might be doing about it.

In the memo, Facebook's team of moderators are told to stop punishing people who receive unsolicited nude photos, according to Motherboard.

Sometimes Facebook will disable a user's account after they complain about receiving dick pics. That's because the victim sometimes reposts the pics in order to complain or condemn the original sender. But Facebook saw this reposting as "revenge porn" -- another problem Facebook has.

Watch this: Facebook may fight revenge porn by asking for your nudes

Now the social network is trying to ensure that pictures of male nudity get deleted, but the people receiving them don't get their accounts disabled for it. This shifts the blame from the victim of the unsolicited nudes, and focuses more on the harasser.

Motherboard included a section of the memo, which you can read below. You can also check out CNET's FAQ on how Facebook censors posts.

Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Part of the leaked Facebook policy.

Motherboard