Nestlé blasted for ‘censoring’ Facebook comments

The company is reconsidering its policy on wall postings, which sparked a swift backlash. The incident offers five important lessons for handling Facebook crises.

In a recent post, the Swiss chocolatier said it is soliciting comments as it revisits how it should handle offensive language and personal attacks on its Facebook page.

The company said:

“You may know that we allow anyone to post anything on this page. It means we get to hear a whole range of comments and views, a lot of which is valuable, and we want to host a page where everyone feels comfortable sharing their views on us, our products and the wider world.

“That said, we are concerned about the use of extremely offensive language, sometimes combined with personal abuse, that have cropped-up. We want to keep the page as open as possible to all views, and criticisms, and are concerned that some of highly hostile language puts some people off in joining the debate.”

Then, following 50 comments blasting the company for “muzzling” and “censoring” comments, Nestlé jumped on again and elaborated upon its initial comment.

It said:

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