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Facebook Employees Tried To Remove Trump Posts As Hate Speech (usatoday.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from USA Today: Facebook employees pushed to remove some of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's Facebook posts -- such as one proposing the ban of Muslims from entering the U.S. -- from the service as hate speech that violated the giant social network's policies, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday. The decision not to remove the Trump posts was made by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the newspaper reported. Employees complained that Facebook was changing the rules for Trump and some who review content on Facebook threatened to quit. "When we review reports of content that may violate our policies, we take context into consideration. That context can include the value of political discourse," Facebook said in an emailed statement. "Many people are voicing opinions about this particular content and it has become an important part of the conversation around who the next U.S. president will be. For those reasons, we are carefully reviewing each report and surrounding context relating to this content on a case by case basis." Senior members of Facebook's policy team posted more details on its policy on Friday: "In the weeks ahead, we're going to begin allowing more items that people find newsworthy, significant, or important to the public interest -- even if they might otherwise violate our standards."

21 of 235 comments (clear)

  1. The system is fixed hillary for prison! by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The system is fixed hillary for prison!

  2. Let's ban ideas we don't like by mveloso · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Let's ban ideas we don't like because uncomfortable ideas make us uncomfortable. The world should be a safe space, one where we can focus on how great we are instead of possibly thinking about the disturbing thoughts of others.

  3. Hmmmmm by redmid17 · · Score: 3

    FTS: Employees complained that Facebook was changing the rules for Trump and some who review content on Facebook threatened to quit.

    Well, bye. Yes Trump is terrible and his viewpoints are awful. He's awful the GOP candidate for President. By squelching his speech content, you're both tacitly endorsing a specific party as a platform -- a big no no from Zuckerberg -- and stripping people of newsworthy information, be it for good or bad. Needless to say it does not surprise me they threatened to quit. If I were Zuckerberg, they'd have been gone anyway. They were moderating content on Facebook, a job not relegated to rocket scientists, and failed at it.

    Good work ladies and gentlemen.

    1. Re:Hmmmmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      By squelching his speech content

      Content that was in violation of Facebook's then-current terms and conditions

      you're both tacitly endorsing a specific party as a platform

      Which party is that? Democratic, Libertarian, or Green? American Independent, American Socialist, or yet another of the political parties?

      a big no no from Zuckerberg

      And changing the rules so that the original candidate no longer is violating Facebook's terms isn't tacitly endorsing that candidate or their party?

      and stripping people of newsworthy information

      Because Facebook, first of all, positions their service as a primary source of news, and is completely not just a place to keep in contact with people that you already know, kinda like a "social networking site."

      Needless to say

      But say it you will...

      They were moderating content on Facebook, a job not relegated to rocket scientists, and failed at it.

      They attempted to apply the rules, and then were told the rules didn't apply to that particular candidate, and so it's the people who were enforcing the rules who failed?

      Hey, does your last name happen to be Conway?

  4. So have they been fired? by SuperKendall · · Score: 3, Insightful

    If said employees feel free to delete others posts, it's not hard to imagine they are reading private messages, monitoring to make sure BadThought is stamped out...

    Have these employees been fired? If not, why not?

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  5. Re:I don't agree that these are "conservative" vie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Enforcing immigration law is not inherently xenophobic. Deporting all illegals and building a wall to hinder their return sound perfectly reasonable to me.

  6. I would believe it. by bmo · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I'm quite left of center and the hate for Hillary among my group is probably as bad as the Trump fan hate for Hillary, and people have been complaining about posts disappearing.

    Editing content makes you responsible for the content itself, as you are exerting control over it.

    I believe practices like this are ridiculously dumb.

    Especially since I consider "hate speech" a great idiot filter. It allows me to keep my friends list trimmed. Just like a Confederate flag is, or Trump signs in the yard. But that's my own choosing. I don't want Facebook choosing for me.

    Yeah, I know, if it's free you are the product. The problem is that the telnet chat that everyone used has been abandoned (even though it's still up after all these years).

    --
    BMO

  7. Re:I don't agree that these are "conservative" vie by ArtemaOne · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Trump is a conservative? That's a riot. I know he's a Republican (today), but he doesn't hold very conservative views.

  8. Anyone else find it amusing by rsilvergun · · Score: 5, Insightful

    that this election is so bat-$h!t (yeah, I know, it's the Internet, I can swear, but I like this better) that Facebook has to change their posting guidelines to allow what's become "normal" political speech?

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
  9. Re:I don't agree that these are "conservative" vie by tsotha · · Score: 4, Insightful

    As the candidate running for president has a leadership role in the party, and leadership makes the party views, they are by definition conservative views when expressed as view of conservative leadership.

    No, actually, that's not how it works. Trump is not a conservative. The Republican party, which, although it does include some conservative politicians, is not run by conservatives.

    They are ugly, selfish, repugnant views that most people find abhorrent, but they cannot simply be written off as "no true scotsman.

    You might be surprised to find people on the other side of the aisle find your views just as ugly, selfish, and repugnant, though they aren't far enough down the authoritarian rabbit hole to try to censor your speech. They will come around eventually, though, if you and your ilk persist.

  10. Re:I don't agree that these are "conservative" vie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I believe it was that, given the the religious violence currently going on in the Muslim community, we should have a temporary hiatus on foreign Muslims entering the country until we can re-evaluate our immigration policies to better evaluate the likelihood of foreigners committing violence while here.

    Again, sounds prudent to me. Foreigners have no automatic right to enter the US. It's a privilege, which may be restricted or withdrawn.

  11. Re:I don't agree that these are "conservative" vie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Let's use full context here. Banning Muslims from extremest hot spots until we can improve how we vet them. Not much different from banning German men of military age from immigrating while at war with Germany.

    Rather than playing the Democrat's hate card to always try to suppress the Republican vote, let's have an honest discussion on what the proposed policy was actually about. Let's use the full context and implied reasoning. Not the political soundbites.

  12. Re:I don't agree that these are "conservative" vie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Citizens have rights in this country. We don't have to extend those same rights to foreign nationals.

  13. Re:I don't agree that these are "conservative" vie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    *not the same AC, but he is right

    Citation:

    Demore V. Kim

    Georgetown University Law Center analysis

    Short version: The Supreme Court has ruled a number of times that constitutional rights, the right to bear arms and freedom of travel in this discussion, do not extend to non-citizens. Thus, not only the other AC is right in that "We don't have to extend those same rights to foreign nationals." but that we don't extend those rights to non-citizens as a matter of law laid out by the highest court in the country.

  14. Re:I don't agree that these are "conservative" vie by execthis · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Wanting to keep out members of a "religion" that openly-stated goal of which is the takeover of the world, and which is fundamentally incompatible and in conflict with many of the most basic principles of your society makes perfect sense. In fact, not doing so seems completely insane.

    What a lot of people don't get is that many of the people in their beloved minority groups wouldn't hesitate in a second to completely destroy many of the freedoms that we've fought so hard to accomplish. And quite frankly seeing women wearing that full-face-cover head veil thing (there's at least one who lives near me) makes me sick.

    Islam teaches that women are literally the property of their husbands, no different than cattle. That should make anyone sick.

  15. Re:I don't agree that these are "conservative" vie by laddiebuck · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Guess that would have been a 'no' on Albert Einstein then. Good job.

  16. Re:I don't agree that these are "conservative" vie by rahvin112 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Arguing a federal judge cannot fairly adjudicate a case before him because of his ethnicity is the very definition of racism. The textbook definition mind you of what Racism is.

  17. Re:I don't agree that these are "conservative" vie by XxtraLarGe · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Arguing a federal judge cannot fairly adjudicate a case before him because of his ethnicity is the very definition of racism. The textbook definition mind you of what Racism is.

    Correction: He argued a federal judge cannot fairly adjudicate a case before him because of his parents' nationality. Mexicans are not necessarily Hispanic, just as Americans are not necessarily European, African or Asian. And even *if* he had made a racist statement, that still doesn't mean all of his supporters are racist. That's a hasty generalization. It just floors me when liberals are for free speech *except* when it's speech they disagree with...

    --
    Taking guns away from the 99% gives the 1% 100% of the power.
  18. Re:I don't agree that these are "conservative" vie by lgw · · Score: 3, Interesting

    By and large anti-immigrant, xenophobic ideas

    You assume your conclusion there. Not wanting more immigrants when you can't find a job is not xenophobia. Check around /. when there's an H1-B discussion. Do you really thing that's xenophobia? Or are you really saying "people I don't like are racists"? Because that's what I hear you saying.

    In general, almost everything involved in politics is more about allegiances than coherent philosophical approaches.

    Politics is about putting the taxpayers' money in your pocket. Why would that be connected to any philosophical approach in the first place? The only thing politicians actually disagree on is: who's pocket.

    believing they have a right to discriminate

    Every time you make a choice based on data, you discriminate. I don't think that word means what you think it means.

    --
    Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
  19. Re:I don't agree that these are "conservative" vie by Zontar+The+Mindless · · Score: 3, Informative

    Christianity and Judaism are also in conflict with Democracy, because any religion that states that religion is above democracy (which both do, its just that most modern versions of them have pulled back from that 'somewhat')...

    Is that right? Hmmmm....

    15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said. 16 So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. 17 Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?” 18 But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin used for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. 20 Then he said to them, “Whose head is this, and whose title?” 21 They answered, “The emperor’s.” Then he said to them, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 22 When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.

    Source: Book of Matthew, Chapter 22.

    --
    Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
  20. Re:I don't agree that these are "conservative" vie by bongey · · Score: 4, Informative

    Albert Einstein was 59 years old by WWII , not exactly "fighting age", US Military cuts off at 35. By 1915 he was 35, and by 1933 he renounced his german citizenship.