Facebook u-turns on Terms of Service changes

Reverts back to old rules after user protests

18 February 2009 15:21 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

Facebook's revisions to its Terms of Service that saw the social networking site claiming ownership of all user's content - even if they deleted their account - caused outrage amongst users.

Following the furore, and the predictable "groups" set up on the site protesting the new terms, the company has now changed its policy.

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's CEO, has admitted in a blog post that Facebook has "decided to return to our previous terms of use while we resolve the issues that people have raised".

Zuckerberg said: "Going forward, we've decided to take a new approach towards developing our terms. We concluded that returning to our previous terms was the right thing for now..."

"More than 175 million people use Facebook. If it were a country, it would be the sixth most populated country in the world. Our terms aren't just a document that protect our rights; it's the governing document for how the service is used by everyone across the world. Given its importance, we need to make sure the terms reflect the principles and values of the people using the service".

Zuckerberg promises the next version will be a "substantial revision" and "will reflect the principles I described yesterday around how people share and control their information".

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