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Facebook Can Block Content Without Explanation, Says US Court (thestack.com)

Posted by samzenpus on from the we-do-what-we-want dept.

An anonymous reader writes: A U.S. court has ruled that Facebook can block any content posted to its site without explanation, after a Sikh group legally challenged the company for taking its page offline. U.S. Northern District of California Judge Lucy Koh ruled that the U.S. based rights group's encouragement of religious discrimination is illegal under the Communications Decency Act, which protects 'interactive computer services' providers by preventing courts from treating them as the publishers of the speech created by their users.

2 of 147 comments (clear)

  1. Re:On this I side with facebook by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Communication forums normally have to decide which of two categories they fall into.

    Option 1: Disinterested provider of opportunity. These forums have some coded rules of behavior or content, but otherwise do not filter anything. They accept no responsibility for the content that people post and let the users solve things until it crosses one of the (few and explicitly stated) lines.

    Option 2: Active editors. These forums are cultivated, maintained, and very ban-heavy. As a side-effect, the forum can be held responsible for third-party content.

    Slashdot it very actively type 1, to the point that the site operators do nothing but post sexist flamebait stories every week or so.
    Looks like Facebook is trying to be a hybrid with the perks of both and consequences of neither.

  2. Bad summary... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I couldn't figure out what was going on from this ridiculous summary. Here's what the article says about what's going on:

    SFJ, a US based rights group, had filed the lawsuit against Facebook Inc. and claimed that the social media giant blocked its page at the behest of Indian government because of its outspoken campaign against government's "persecution of Sikhs a religious minority and advocating for Sikh referendum in the Indian state of Punjab."

    [...]

    SFJ lawsuit had also requested the court to issue an order compelling Facebook to produce all its communication with government of India related to SFJ's page and to issue an order reinstating access and enjoining Facebook from blocking right group's online content in future. The plaintiff said that on or about May 1, 2015 Facebook blocked access to SFJ page in India without prior notice or an explanation.

    I also note that Koh is the one who ruled for Apple against Samsung on those ridiculous design patents.