Facebook lifts ban on videos showing beheadings

Facebook has resumed allowing decapitation videos to be posted on its website, lifting a temporary ban it had placed earlier this year on content featuring graphic violence.

Gory photos and videos are now permitted on the site so long as the content is posted in a manner intended for its users to "condemn" the acts rather than celebrate them.

"Facebook has long been a place where people turn to share their experiences, particularly when they're connected to controversial events on the ground, such as human rights abuses, acts of terrorism and other violent events," the company said in a statement.

"People share videos of these events on Facebook to condemn them. If they were being celebrated, or the actions in them encouraged, our approach would be different," the statement said.

"Sharing any graphic content for sadistic pleasure is prohibited," it added.