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Facebook Needs To Protect Human Rights Issue, Civil Groups Say (cnet.com)

Posted by msmash on from the act-responsibly dept.

Facebook needs to be more forthcoming about the kinds of content it takes down. That's according to 73 organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union, Black Lives Matter, SumOfUs and more, who signed a letter sent to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. From a report on CNET: The group asks for more clarity on the social networking giant's position on removing video and other content that highlight civil rights issues at the behest of authorities. The growing importance of Facebook in your life means it plays a central role in the news, video and content you see. That was made horrifyingly clear over the summer when its Facebook Live streaming video tool was used to broadcast the shooting of a black man by a police officer in Minnesota. The next day, the medium was used to broadcast a sniper firing shots at police officer at another civil rights demonstration. "With the onset of Facebook Live, your company is taking on an increasingly central role in controlling media that circulates through the public sphere," the letter said. "News is not just getting shared on Facebook: it's getting broken there."

5 of 47 comments (clear)

  1. We wouldn't have these problems by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    We wouldn't need to make a company do the people's bidding if people made use of the Internet instead of Zuckernet. Stop putting everything behind those walls.

    1. Re:We wouldn't have these problems by TheRaven64 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It's a shame this is at -1, but it's entirely right. If you have a Facebook account and you use it to communicate with people then you are responsible for giving Facebook this power. Don't want Facebook to abuse its power? Don't give it its power in the first place. Boycott Facebook, and more importantly boycott companies that use it to advertise.

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
  2. Re:Forest for the trees by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 4, Insightful

    MSM stopped reporting the news a long time ago. It is now just propaganda for the power class. See WikiLeaks for evidence.

    It is Hackers breaking news, and the "networks" trying to keep a lid on it all.

    --
    Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
  3. Re:Forest for the trees by Penguinisto · · Score: 1, Insightful

    MSM stopped reporting the news a long time ago. It is now just propaganda for the power class.

    ...and the people too old/lazy/busy to get it anywhere else than their TV set. Until the baby-boom generation is dead, it'll still have that influence for a very long time (that is, the 'TV and papers are the only place to get legitimate news' mindset.)

    --
    Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
  4. Get rid of "community standards" by MikeRT · · Score: 1, Insightful

    And just go with the legal requirements of the jurisdiction. Facebook gives us plenty of control over what we see. If a friend of yours is offensive you have plenty of options ranging from blocking news sources from a friend to defriending the person. Social media companies should be far more neutral and just tell people to STFU when they complain about content they're seeing because they provide the tools needed to block content you don't want to see.