The world's largest social media company is working to keep gender-related hate speech off Facebook. In response to appeals from women's groups and advertisers, the firm promises to tighten content restrictions, clarify what's not allowed and hold users accountable. Critics targeted pages with cruel, insensitive content about rape, other violence or women's appearance. They sent more than 5,000 e-mails to Facebook advertisers and generated more than 60,000 tweets.

Facebook's response last week is welcomed as an important step toward defining boundaries for acceptable online behavior. It's prompted partly by a push from commercial users of Facebook. Nissan, Nationwide Insurance and 13 smaller companies stopped advertising after their messages were displayed next to offensive content. "As consumers we do have a lot of power,” said Jaclyn Friedman, the executive director of Women, Action and the Media.

At the same time, some free speech advocates question Facebook’s commitment to an open Internet. "No automated system can identify what will offend people," notes John Constine, a writer at TechCrunch.com. "What some humans find disgusting, others find controversial and others still find funny. . . . The Internet’s ability to connect a diversity of opinions is one reason it is so powerful. Moving to block someone else’s should be used with great discretion, not just when we disagree."

Activist says: "Facebook has a huge reach with over a billion users. . . . It does have a very exciting opportunity to shape cultural norms, and what is publicly and socially acceptable."- Laura Bates, founder of The Everyday Sexism Project

Blogger says: "Even if its policies are improved, do we really want Facebook to be the one deciding what qualifies as hate speech and what doesn’t?" – Matthew Ingram, senior writer at GigaOM.com, a business tech site

Journalist says: "Facebook has infuriated many of its users with what they see as an inconsistent approach to enforcing its terms of service for inappropriate content." – Joshua Brustein, Business Week