Facebook has published its Community Standards in full for the first time. These are the internal guidelines which Facebook and its team of moderators use to decide what content gets deleted, and what happens to users who post it on the social network.

With somewhere around 2 billion users, Facebook has a lot of content to manage. To this end, the social network employs thousands of moderators whose job it is to review content and decide whether it breaks Facebook's Community Standards.

And now we know what guidelines these moderators use to help them decide...

Facebook Reveals Its Inner Workings

Facebook has had Community Standards for years, and they haven't really changed. However, what HAS changed is Facebook's willingness to be open about what is and isn't allowed on Facebook. But beware, as Facebook's internal guidelines run to 20+ pages.

They cover a wide range of issues, including violent threats and bullying, self-harm, and nudity. And on some of these issues Facebook has been seen to apply its rules inconsistently, hence the company's desire to let the community see behind the curtain.

As Facebook explains in its introduction to the Community Standards:

"We recognise how important it is for Facebook to be a place where people feel empowered to communicate, and we take our role in keeping abuse off our service seriously. That's why we have developed a set of Community Standards that outline what is and is not allowed on Facebook."

Facebook further explains that the Community Standards are designed "to encourage expression and create a safe community." And Facebook has written them with help from its "community and from experts in fields such as technology and public safety."

Facebook Launches an Appeals Process

As well as revealing more about its Community Standards, Facebook is launching an appeals process for "posts that were removed for nudity / sexual activity, hate speech or graphic violence." If your appeal is successful your post, photo, or video will be restored.

We doubt anyone other than the journalists covering this story will actually bother to read through all of the guidelines. Still, they should come in handy if the social network ever deletes your posts, or, even worse, bans you from using Facebook altogether.

Image Credit: Dr Les Sachs/Flickr