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Facebook Says it Will Now Block White-Nationalist, White-Separatist Posts (washingtonpost.com)

Posted by msmash on from the tightening-bolts dept.

Facebook will begin banning posts, photos and other content that reference white nationalism and white separatism, revising its rules in response to criticism that a loophole had allowed racism to thrive on its platform. From a report: Previously, Facebook only had prohibited users from sharing messages that glorified white supremacy -- a rhetorical discrepancy, in the eyes of civil rights advocates, who argued that white nationalism, supremacy and separatism are indistinguishable and that the policy undermined the tech giant's stepped-up efforts to combat hate speech online. Facebook now agrees with that analysis, [Editor's note: the link may be paywalled; alternative source] according to people who've been briefed on the decision. The new policy also applies to Instagram. The rise and spread of white nationalism on Facebook were thrown into sharp relief in the wake of the deadly neo-Nazi rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, when self-avowed white nationalists used the social networking site as an organizing tool.

7 of 402 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Whew, that's a relief! by backwardsposter · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Don't worry, it's only being used against people who disagree with us

  2. Who will be the judge? by bob4u2c · · Score: 5, Insightful

    banning posts, photos and other content that reference white nationalism and white separatism

    The bigger problem is who will judge what is a "reference" to white nationalism and white separatism? What about someone speaking out against such things, are they referencing it? What happens when the words become banned and people just move on to new ones; do we ban those to? When will it stop?

    Seriously, stop trying to be thought police and address the real issues. You know, like why are people even talking about nationalism and separatism in the first place. How about we rationally talk about why people are upset and what can be done about it rather than just outright ban everything.

  3. Will they block Black Nationalists as well? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    What about Black separatists? Native Indian separatists? How about Pro Islamic Sharia groups? Pro Israel? Extreme right Christians? Who decides what is allowed? This is a very slippery slope. Either you support freedom of speech and freedom of religion, or you don't.

    1. Re:Will they block Black Nationalists as well? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Let's ignore the BLM riots over... nothing (people died!), and the racial killings of whites in Africa. If Facebook is using a single Australian who shot up a mosque in New Zealand to justify this, then why not mass killings in Africa? Islamic beheading videos are uploaded ALL THE TIME, yet you don't see them saying "If you're pro Islam then you'll be banned!". I don't think they should, either. It's fine to say "I like being Islamic and I think Islam is the only religion that should be followed". It's fine to say "Africa is for the blacks and I don't think white farmers should have all the wealth". It's fine to say "Whites create obviously superior cultures so we should keep white areas white". All three are fine to say. Absolutely MORONIC, but fine. What you shouldn't be allowed to say is "Okay it's time to kill X, let's go everyone!". Calls to violence are not okay.

      Facebook should either be consistent with the enforcement, or not enforce at all. I don't believe they should be forced to let anyone say anything on their own platform, but they absolutely should not pick sides based on race. Just typing "pick sides based on race" makes me feel disgusting. It should make them feel disgusting too.

  4. The internet repeats, once more by kaatochacha · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Everything , and I mean everything on the internet is basically a simulacrum of the real world.
    And in these areas, they eventually run into the same problems that occurred in the real world, and will probably arrive at similar solutions.
    AirBNB will probably be regulated like regular hotels, because of issues that occurred in hotels over time
    Lyft /Uber will probably be regulated like regular taxis, because of issues that occurred in Taxis over time

    And Facebook / et al will probably end up being regulated like any town square: meaning right now, this pronouncement is the stab at forbidding harmful thought by dictators, which eventually in the US led to the First Amendment to the Constitution. You can't make the world a better place by simply banning bad things. You need to fight them with good ideas.

  5. Re:Whew, that's a relief! by cascadingstylesheet · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's only Facebook. If their service censors stuff you want to read just use a different one. Twitter, Gab and 4/8chan all allow this kind of content. Twitter does as long as you don't call for violence or harass people, the others don't even care about that.

    What is it about Facebook that makes it so special?

    Yeah, I mean it's not like all the major platforms and payment processors will get together and ... oh wait.

  6. Personally.. by argStyopa · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...I'd ban ANY sort of nationalist/separatist posts that rise to the level of hate speech or inciting violence, REGARDLESS of the skin color they're promoting.

    But what do I know?

    --
    -Styopa