NekNominate: should Facebook ban the controversial drinking game?

A Northern Ireland-based NekNominate webpage was shut down after complaints from the family of Jonny Byrne from Co Carlow in Ireland, who died after jumping into the river Barrow in Carlow after allegedly taking part. The deaths of Isaac Richardson, Stephen Brooks and Ross Cummins have all been allegedly linked to the NekNominate game.The game has seen people drink blood from the severed artery of a deer; alcohol mixed with dog food, olives and soy sauce; a live goldfish; and large mixes of spirits. Dares have included riding into a supermarket on a horse, stripping naked in public and jumping naked into snow.Facebook said it was reviewing videos linked to the craze but said that the posting of such material is not a breach of its rules or community standards. Its in-house rules define harmful content as organising world violence, theft, property destruction or something that directly inflicts emotional distress. A number of NekNominate pages are still active.Facebook said: "We do not tolerate content which is directly harmful, for example bullying, but controversial or offensive behaviour is not necessarily against our rules. We encourage people to report things to us which they feel break our rules so we can review and take action on a case by case basis. We also give people the ability to remove themselves from an uncomfortable conversation through tools such as untagging and blocking."(theguardian.com)ANN.Az