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Facebook Shuts Down Human Pets

Posted by Nick O'Neill on May 8th, 2008 10:58 PM

Human Pets, an application with over 50,000 active daily users, was shut down by Facebook due to pornographic pictures that were supposedly showing up within the application occasionally. Patrick Shyu, the developer of the application, was notified at 12 am in the morning and was given a 2 hour time frame to take down the photos or have the application removed. Patrick made a series of frantic emails to Facebook to keep the application up but was unsuccessful. This was in response to the following email from Facebook:

Hi Patrick,

We ask that you remove your application from the site until you have removed all pornographic content. Our pornographic policy is very strict and we gave you a deadline until now 11:00am pacific time Thursday 8 May 2008 and all pornographic content has not been removed from your application. Below are just a few URL links of content that violates our Platform Application Guidelines section I.1 (see http://developers.facebook.com/guidelines.php). We take this violation very seriously and will have to disable your application until you have fully complied with our policy, unless you take it down to remove the content.

[Links to 10+ pictures]

Sincerely,
Facebook Platform Developer Operations & Suppport

This is just one of many emails that were exchanged in a series of emails between Patrick and the development team. Patrick had apparently devised a system which enabled users to mark uploaded content as “adults only”. Facebook’s platform team was not in favor of this and after a substantial amount of back and forth the application was ultimately shut down. The problem was that when Patrick prevented users from uploading pornographic images, they revolted and ended up posting more making it impossible for the moderators to handle the volume.

Ultimately Patrick needs to make his application work if he is going to accept image uploads. I would argue that they should use the Facebook platform for uploading photos and as such the users who are uploading photos that violate the terms of service will be banned. I can’t currently access the application to see how it functions but here is where it used to be. It will be interesting to see if this application is added again or if it’s gone for good.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, May 8th, 2008 at 10:58 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Viewing 40 Comments

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    I used to actively use this application in its early stage. It was a fun application full of quirky people and interesting content it started going down hill when members were turning it into a porno hub prostituting "auctioning" (naughty pics or videos) of themselves in exchange for pixel points to "buy" pets. It was starting to get disturbing.
    People were also taking it too seriously. Accusing each other of "theft" if another user would BUY their "pets".
    Starting and getting into fights with other members.

    The uploading of pics mostly lewd ones started when they came up with the "shop" option where you can open a store and upload photos and attach a caption to go with it. Users then can "buy" that as gifts to give to their pets.
    Many users then uploaded pornographic images to sell, sex sells, to get more points.
    It suddenly lost all its charm for me.
    I stopped using the application right then and there.
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    this is very upsettingI have alot of friends on that page and I miss them dearly. you could of given him more time to deal with the massive task. you are ruining facebook by doing this. this is the only reason I even log on to facebook is that page. it rocks, give him a break! and let him get our page back, PLease!!!!!!
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    Please bring back HP, miss the fun.
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    Oh man, this is stupid... I paid a membership, and now expect it refunded.
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    THIS IS SUCH CRAP!!! WHAT ABOUT ALL THE DRUG SMUGGLING APPS AND CRAP LIKE THAT?? LIKENESS UNRATED HAS SEXUAL SHIT IN IT TOO. THEY SHOULD MAKE AGE RESTRICTIONS ON APPS SO THAT THE ADULTS CAN ENJOY THEMSELVES TOO. WAS FACEBOOK NOT ORIGINALLY CREATED FOR MORE MATURE PEOPLE?? MAYBE THEIR SHOULD BE AN AGE RESRICTION ON WHO CAN USE FACEBOOK ALTOGETHER!!

    BRING BACK HUMAN PETS!!!
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    if PARENTS stop their KIDS from getting on facebook(age limit)then we would'nt have a problem..
    i'm not a member so i cant see the "adults only".
    human pets was the best thing on facebook,for me & my friends.
    please bring it back.why punish us when the PARENTS of the young ones that somehow got in should be SLAPED!!!!!!!!!
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    bring back HP. its not fair to other who use the application wisely.
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    I am greatly upset by what has happened..I worked very hard in Human Pets to take care of my pets and earn points.
    When it was removed, I had half a million points invested in pets, had over 200K in items purchased from the shops, and had 300K in my account.
    I was very committed to this application as were many, many people.
    There will always be people who will abuse the system,but don't punish everyone.
    I made some wonderful, everlasting friendships in this application, and cared very much for these people.
    I am deeply saddened about it being ripped away from us with NO warning to us users.I am positive there are many individuals right now that are devastated by this loss.
    To many of us, it was much more than an application on FaceBook.
    I know I am only one person, but I am one strong person, that believes that I must stand up for what is right or wrong, and this was wrong.
    There could have been more of a notice to Patrick, and adequate time given to clear out the users who refused to stop promoting this particular type of pornography.
    Please have Human Pets returned to us, with a plan set in place to correct the problem. We would all appreciate it being brought back with all our assets in their original place, as well.
    I am sure most of us are completely willing to work within guidelines.
    Awaiting your response,
    Bonnie Brady
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    this is real sad. I hope Patrick removes the adult content and facebook re-instore this application
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    Human Pets is the only reason I go onto Facebook at all. There must be some compromise.
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    Just bring HP back and only ban the members not respecting your porn policy, I miss my friends on hp and the laughter and banter we had......Its not fair to punish the world because some people couldn't respect you....

    Please
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    Fascinating! Yours is the first post I could find on the disappearance of Human Pets from Facebook. It's true, there were a lot of pornographic photos and videos on HP and they were easy to find. And people got ridiculously angry whenever they were reported for posting porn.

    I agree...Patrick and his team needed to ban people who posted porn.
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    i fell as a use of that app it was a bit unfair to do so fast.If they wanted the could have disabled the shops and gift items and to do this the site should have been put under '' out of order'' till so and site should have been locked till the program was sorted instead of a straight kick i understand the problem and agree to that is not need it ect. but its also unfair to the good use who has made good frioend and have not added them to the fb and i wish if the could not find a nice way around the problem they should at least let the user to get the friend in hp to there fb and i hope that fb took it that they gave him 2hours to do some thing i feel with a huge program like hp it extremly hard to do that and all we know he got notic 30min cos he went out for a bit the loo or wat ever as i know i miss this with in 2h as not always at my pc i could under stand if fb gave him 48 or even 24 hours notic
    i feel fb could have under stood that alittle better
    and feel even if then dont let the program back they could at least give a chance for ppl get find the friends they had
    regards
    chris bussey
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    Hi. Firstly I have only been online properly for about 9 months. I have the time to write this because I have just had a back operation. Human pets as an application helped me forget about my discomfort, both before and after my operation. The majority of people from all over the world that I spoke to on the application were Adult, positive, and very friendly. Personally I thought that membership to adapt your page was a good idea, especially as a charity benfited.
    I did not see the need for the adult images on this application at all. A bit of titalation maybe but not more thanyou see more on most beaches and daytime tv nowdays. I hope that the Facebook team realise that Human Pets was a fantastic platform for actually meeting people, swapping ideas, bringing out creativity and sharing knowledge. Which is what the web is for..isn't it? Please consider bringing it back.
    Unfortunately as in so many cases there will be those who like to push back against regulations and I agree that any, and I mean any user found to be breaking the rules especially where pornagraphy is concerned should be banned. (although a code of acceptability needs to be created) and the offending item removed immediately. I for one volunteer my services as a moderator and I am absolutley positive that if it a matter of policing the site, there would be no problem at all in getting enough people to do it.
    Thank you for taking the time to read this. Thank you Patrick Shyu for making my life a lot easier than it could have been. Paul Hayman (Strange Paul to my friends on HP)
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    very interesting...

    Thing is, I was using this app for a while, not for the activities mentioned above, though. As it is/was a dating site of sorts, inevitably it could get a bit saucy, yet I never came across pornography as such. There were a few stories about users posting a lot of flesh, yet never as nude as even 70s playboy and then there were the misuse of female model photos obviously just taken from the web and set up as fake girl accounts. Yet most of those were actually banned by the admin eventually, keeping the community rather clean, at least from my perception.

    The rather big question is, if human pets is gone, what will replace it as there will be a demand for a similar service.
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    Honestly, this is really to some degree as much a Facebook problem as it is HP problem. I think that the 50,000 HP daily users only scratches the surface & believe there are near to 600,000 total users ?!

    There is no real mechanism for Facebook to bulk address multiple users at short notice which substantially contributed to the problem & that discussions were solely between Patrick & facebook rather than Facebook & HP users which is where the majority of the problem lied & where Facebook need to seriously concentrate their focus on.

    & realistically, If they had links for Patrick to see, then they effectively had some of the true/real offenders if you wish to call them that to which they could apply their controls upon without globally affecting all & many/most legitimate users of HP.

    yes, maybe control is needed, but certainly in no way at all how this has now been so atrociously performed.

    A serious gap has been left with the removal of HP, one which leaves some huge social repercussions this weekend & no doubt will have many questioning & seriously reviewing their facebook 'allegiances'. Upsetting whackos & freaks via legitimate controls appropriately applied is one thing, upsetting friends exercising legitimate & controlled global social interactions is a completely different exercise which has now left a huge a significant bad taste for all faceBook HP users.

    An emphatic 'Boo' to facebook for the poor lacklustre way in which this exercise has been so inappropriately performed.
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    you people should take a look at the internet some day
    soon
    there is more porn than anyone could see in their lifetime
    you really need to grasp reality and and return human pets to the fb apps
    it was the one app that made fb useful and fun
    the rest of your apps are infantile and poorly written
    having little or no interaction
    thank you norman stone
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    The very best aplication on Facebook and the main reason i log on to this site,
    Was removed without any warning to the shock of i guess what must be over 50,000 active daily members.
    At the very least facebook could have spared a thought for this subcomunity and given us all notice that the aplication was to be removed,
    thus allowing us to add all our human pets friends to facebook friends lists.
    On a more personal note..
    I loved Humanpets and spent months building up points i had a little shop and took hours carefully crafting * NON ADULT* gifts i made good friends on there and am glad that i was a part of it.
    If HUMANPETS was to set up outside of facebook i would join and start again like a shot it really was more than just a facebook aplication anyway.
    BRING BACK HUMAN PETS.
    BRING BACK HUMAN PETS.
    we are behind you Patrick
    Ian Smith
    Leicester England
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    WE WANT OUR HUMAN PETS BACK THIS ISN'T FAIR YOU HAVE A LOT OF OTHER APPS WITH BAD STUFF GET RID OF THEM TO THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE A FREE COUNTRY NOT A MICKY MOUSE DICTATORSHIP.YOU HAVE PISSED OFF A LOT OF PEOPLE
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    I so need that HP application back. I met so many friends through that application and now I am so sad that I cannot contact them anymore.....there is no point in hole FB if it punish all the people for someone being obedient....
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    OMG! I'm so glad you posted this, because I really didn't know what was happening. This is outrageous. I hope HP comes back quickly....
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    I'd like to know what Patrick Shyu is planning to do in terms of REIMBURSING those of us that invested in his MEMBERSHIP PROGRAM (like I did) in his Human Pets application.

    I had no idea that the Adult Content issue was actually an issue since there was a clearly identified "Red Light District" section which presumes that the "Adults Only" content label was being enforced - but in any event that honor system SHOULD BE tied to the shop owner uploading/adding an item to the Market.

    Either way, the membership fee was tied to a duration - and if this duration is not going to be honored due to a policy violation issue between Facebook Big Brother and the Developer - then Patrick Shyu either needs to comply and return the Human Pets application to Facebook OR reimburse those of us that paid for the membership program in a pro-rated manner based on the difference between our membership expiration date and the date when the Human Pets application was removed from Facebook (05/08/08).
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