Facebook reverses itself again, takes down beheading video

Facing a fierce public outcry after allowing a violent video to return, Facebook said that it had removed the posting. But the episode underscored the recurring difficulties that popular online sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Google's YouTube have in weighing whether to let users share potentially offensive or even horrifying material.

"Every step along the way, Facebook is making a series of judgments about the appropriateness of content for its audience," said Eric Goldman, director of the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University. "There is no way for Facebook to make all of its users completely happy about its editorial choices." Website operators have confronted similar dilemmas since the dawn of the Internet. But while most Internet companies promote the Web as a forum for free speech, many have struggled with hosting offensive material, even after developing extensive policies and employing squadrons of content reviewers and lawyers to implement them.