Facebook members will soon get the right to comment and vote on the site's future policies and terms of use. The move comes a couple of weeks after the site controversially changed ownership rights on posted content, and reverted to the old terms of use following a user backlash.

Now Facebook, which was recently bashed for its Ingsoc Big Brother antics, is going all democratic and giving people the right to voice their concerns and even take part in decision making.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckenberg said the goal is to open up Facebook "so that users can participate meaningfully in our policies and our future". He also admitted recent changes to Facebook terms of use had sparked a firestorm.

Privacy International has applauded Facebook's decision as unprecedented, claiming no other company has taken such a bold move towards transparency and democratization.

Facebook currently has 175 million users, and the move makes it the world's third largest democracy.

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