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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.

5 of 147 comments (clear)

  1. Yes please! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Can they block the entire Facebook.com while they're at it?

  2. On this I side with facebook by damn_registrars · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'm not a fan of their business model, nor do I have an account of any kind on their system. However, I side with them on arguing that they should be able to block any content they want. I don't see them as being any different from a newspaper editorial page, which has the freedom to publish anything it wants. Furthermore having your content rejected from facebook does not in any way prevent you from taking it elsewhere, so your speech is really not being oppressed.

    --
    Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
  3. 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.

  4. Re:Says you! by cfalcon · · Score: 5, Informative

    > As far as the other, a business has a right to refuse service to anybody for any reason or no reason.

    Civil Right Act of 1964 says otherwise.

  5. Why is this surprising by tommyjcarpenter · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It's their website. It's free. They can block whatever they want. You are not paying for a QoS guaranteeing content. They can delete all your shit if they feel like it. I don't understand this debate.