Facebook will stop allowing users to post home addresses

Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta will stop permitting users to share private home addresses on its social media platforms to prevent targeted protests due to “doxing”.

The decision comes following a recommendation from Meta’s Oversight Board to remove a previous exception that allowed for sharing a person’s home address if it were “publicly available”.

Meta first asked its Oversight Board to look into how Facebook and Instagram handled private residential information around a year ago.

That was after several incidents of doxing, where a person’s name, contact details, or residential address is shared online, usually intending to harass them.

As it stands, Facebook and Instagram permit the sharing of home addresses that have appeared in five or more news articles or have been made available in public records.

The company has regarded this exception as “an important tool for journalism, civic activism, and other public discourse”.

But it has now recognised that removing the exception could strengthen privacy protections on its platforms.

The company said it expects to implement the change by the end of the year.

Meta’s Oversight Board acknowledged that removing the exception would limit access to addresses that might still be publicly available elsewhere.

What users can still do

The company will still allow users to share posts containing images with an external view of the residence itself, provided it is core to the news story.

However, it will not be permitted if it is shared to organise protests against the resident.

The rules will also be different for government officials staying in publicly-owned residences.

Meta said it would also implement a recommendation that allows for publishing addresses and imagery of official residences belonging to high-ranking government officials.

It would also permit the organisation of protests at these publicly-owned official residences.

Main Image: SABC News