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Facebook Censoring Images of the Prophet Muhammad In Turkey
An anonymous reader writes: Immediately following the Charlie Hebdo attack, Mark Zuckerberg said, "... this is what we all need to reject — a group of extremists trying to silence the voices and opinions of everyone else around the world. I won't let that happen on Facebook. I'm committed to building a service where you can speak freely without fear of violence." Now, Facebook has begun censoring images of the prophet Muhammad in Turkey. According to the Washington post, "It's an illustration, perhaps, of how extremely complicated and nuanced issues of online speech really are. It's also conclusive proof of what many tech critics said of Zuckerberg's free-speech declaration at the time: Sweeping promises are all well and good, but Facebook's record doesn't entirely back it up." To be fair to Zuckerberg and Facebook, the company must obey the law of any country in which it operates. But it stands in stark contrast to the principles espoused by its founder.
It is an affront to the deaths and memory of the Charlie Hebdo editors.
The association between CH and Western freedom of speech needs to end. France doesn't have freedom of speech. Religious dress code is restricted. Unpopular flags and symbols may not be traded. Questioning the Holocaust is a criminal act. CH staff had their freedoms threatened more often by the French government than by Islamic wackadoodles - it just so happens that money talks, so they could lawyer their way through the justice system.
What is more, France is involved in a war against various Islamic fundamentalist groups. Propaganda outlets are attacked in war. CH is a propaganda outlet (in practice, whether officially sanctioned or not). Does America respect local journalists preaching anti-American sentiment when it invades a country? Of course not. War is hell. The attack on CH was part of the strategy of war. It is not a matter of freedom of speech - that spin was just propaganda for our side.