Facebook restricts violent video clips
Facebook has begun placing warnings over videos posted to its site, stating their contents might "shock, offend and upset" if viewed.
The alerts prevent the videos from automatically playing in feeds unless they are clicked, unlike other clips.
The site is also preventing graphic videos and photos from being shown to any user who has identified themself as being under 18 years old.
It follows pressure for the move from its own safety advisers.
But one psychologist said the measure still did not do enough to protect young, vulnerable members of the social network.
Among the first posts to be affected are uploaded files containing video footage of policeman Ahmed Merabet being shot dead in Paris by a terrorist involved in last week's Charlie Hebdo attacks.
Facebook has faced repeated criticism over recent years for allowing violent and graphic images that it deems to be of public interest or concern to remain on its pages.
The US firm's guidelines ban material "shared for sadistic pleasure or to celebrate or glorify violence".
However, it allows news reports and other documentary images depicting beheadings and other types of murder to remain online despite the potential for distress.
The firm permits children as young as 13 years old to be members. But some even younger children circumvent this age limit by providing false details when joining up.
Last August, controversy over images showing people's heads placed on spikes in Syria prompted the Family Online Safety Institute (Fosi) - a member of Facebook's safety advisory board - to demand the social network change its practices.
Stephen Balkam, the charity's chief executive, told the BBC he wanted cover pages to be placed over graphic material to prevent people from seeing distressing images without warning, and an age-gate system implemented to make it harder for under-18s to find the material.
Facebook has now confirmed it began rolling out such a scheme in December. It applies to graphic material reported to the firm by its users that is judged to have been posted in an irresponsible manner.
"When people share things on Facebook, we expect that they will share it responsibly, including choosing who will see that content," a spokeswoman told the BBC.
"We also ask that people warn their audience about what they are about to see if it includes graphic violence.
"In instances when people report graphic content to us that should include warnings or is not appropriate for people under the age of 18, we may add a warning for adults and prevent young people from viewing the content."
The spokeswoman added that the firm's engineers were still looking to further improve the scheme.
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