Facebook has outlined a range of coming changes to its content monetization policies and brand safety controls, which are being implemented as a result of its recent civil rights audit. 

The changes will include an audit of its partner and content monetization policies, conducted by the Media Rating Council (MRC), and a review of its policies around hate speech, in conjunction with the Global Alliance for Responsible Media.

Facebook’s recently published civil rights audit, which was conducted over the last two years, found ‘significant concerns’ in the company’s approach, specifically in relation to political speech. These new measures won’t address that issue, but they will touch on several key areas, including:

• An evaluation of the development and enforcement of our Partner Monetization Policies
• An evaluation of the development and enforcement of our Content Monetization Policies and how these policies enforce the 4A’s/Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) Brand Suitability Framework, and comply with MRC’s Standards for Brand Safety
• An assessment of our ability to apply brand safety controls to ads shown within publisher content such as in-stream, Instant Articles or Audience Network
• Participating in the World Federation of Advertiser’s Global Alliance for Responsible Media to align on brand safety standards and definitions, scaling education, common tools and systems, and independent oversight for the industry.
• Certification from independent groups, like the Digital Trading Standards Group which specifically examines our advertising processes against JICWEBS’ Good Practice Principles and is a requirement for achieving the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s Gold Standard.

The measures will help Facebook ensure that its policies are more inclusive, and aligned with concerns raised by industry and advocacy groups. In addition to this, Facebook will also now publish its Community Standards Enforcement Reports on a quarterly basis. The next report is scheduled for release in August.

And while the Civil Rights Audit specifically called out issues with political leaders posting divisive comments on the platform, these new measures will help Facebook focus on various other areas of concern, which should reduce the usage of Facebook’s tools for discriminatory targeting and promotion.

In addition this, last week, Facebook ran an information session on the value of increasing diverse representation in your content.

Facebook itself has more to do on this front, but these new measures show that it is taking action to address key areas of concern.