Report: Facebook planning to ask users about changing site voting rights
Just ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend in the United States, Facebook could be dropping a potential bombshell on its users worldwide soon.
The world's largest social network is reportedly planning to send an email blast to all of its one billion and counting users on Wednesday with the intention of asking them about potential governance changes, according to TechCrunch.
The major point of the expected memo is that Facebook will be asking users if the Menlo Park, Calif.-based corporation can remove the ability for users to vote on site governance changes and alterations.
For reference, under the current model the rule is that if proposed changes snag over 7,000 comments, then all users have the chance to vote on them. After that, if more than 30 percent vote for or against the alterations, the final verdict is binding.
Thus, technically speaking, this proposed change to remove the right to vote on site governance changes would be subject to this 7,000-comment rule.
However, that doesn't mean that Facebook users will be left in the dark without any voice about governance changes whatsoever.
Penned by Elliot Schrage, vice president of communications and public policy at Facebook, here's an excerpt about the replacement plan:
- Ask the Chief Privacy Officer: We'll be launching a new feature on our Facebook and Privacy Page (https://www.facebook.com/fbprivacy) to let you submit questions about privacy to our Chief Privacy Officer of Policy, Erin Egan.
- Facebook Live Events: Erin Egan will host webcasts on a regular basis to address your comments and questions about privacy, safety and security.
A full copy of what is said to be the intended blog post, which again is expected to be published at some point today, is available on TechCrunch.
UPDATE: Facebook has published the official blog post concerning the proposal for voting changes as well as the proposed data use policy and a lengthy legal statement of rights and responsibilities.