Facebook has turned its proposed changes to its site governance and privacy policy over to its users for a vote.
The voting period will run until 10 December and, in order for the result to be binding, 30% of Facebook users (about 300 million) must participate in the vote.
The proposed changes include doing away with the user voting system for site governance changes, the sharing of data between Facebook and its affiliates (such as Instagram), and the loosening of controls on the Messages feature (removing the ability for users to select who can send them direct messages).
Last week, the Electronic Privacy Information Centre and the Centre for Digital Democracy submitted a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, urging him to withdraw the proposed changes and to be "responsive to the rights of Facebook users to control their personal information and to participate in the governance of Facebook".
The proposed changes also garnered over 19 000 comments - triggering the public vote (Facebook's current policy holds that if a proposed change gathers over 7 000 comments from users, the change is put to a vote).
Facebook has, however, since moved to clarify the proposed changes. Facebook VP of communications, public policy and marketing, Elliot Schrage, says in a statement: "You asked us to clarify proposed language in our Data Use Policy explaining that we will share information with our corporate affiliates.
"We've revised this proposal to make it clear that the sharing of information among our affiliates is and will be done in compliance with all applicable laws, and where additional consent of our users is required, we will obtain it."
Schrage also explains that the elimination of the voting system does not equate to the elimination of user participation in site governance changes. "To be clear, our goal in modifying our site governance process is to make sure that we receive feedback from you in the best, most productive way possible so that we can be responsive to your input."
It has been noted that the last public vote on Facebook only saw 380 000 users participate, so it is unlikely the current vote will reach the required 30% participation threshold, and the changes will most likely go ahead.
Facebook will host a live Web cast to discuss the proposed changes at 5.30pm GMT (7.30pm in SA) and users can tune in here. Voting is being carried out via a third-party application on Facebook, and the results will be independently audited.
Share