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For an even more dramatic example, when Facebook posts were fueling anti-Muslim pogroms in Sri Lanka, Facebook didn't respond to either reports in their system
by azernik 9y ago
For an even more dramatic example, when Facebook posts were fueling anti-Muslim pogroms in Sri Lanka, Facebook didn't respond to either reports in their system or to direct outreach from the government, until about a week or two into the violence the government blocked Facebook entirely. Then they showed up and made a display of contrition and responsibility.
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On Facebook, Mr. Weerasinghe posted a video that showed him walking the shops of a town called Digana, warning that too many were owned by Muslims, and urging Sinhalese to take the town back. The researchers in Colombo reported his video to Facebook, along with his earlier posts, but all remained online.
Over the next three days, mobs descended on several towns, burning mosques, Muslim-owned shops and homes. One of those towns was Digana. And one of those homes, among the storefronts of its winding central street, belonged to the Basith family.
Abdul Basith, a 27-year-old aspiring journalist, was trapped inside.
“They have broken all the doors in our house, large stones are falling inside,” Mr. Basith said in a call to his uncle as the attack began. “The house is burning.”
The next morning, the police found his body.
In response, the government temporarily blocked most social media. Only then did Facebook representatives get in touch with Sri Lankan officials, they say. Mr. Weerasinghe’s page was closed the same day.
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- megous 9y agoDon't worry, at least in Burma (country where a genocide is happening) it's fixed now. /s For a country very roughly the population of Germany they now have dozens of people policing content. In Germany they had 1200 before even announcing they'd hire anyone for Burma. And that itself was because of pressure from German government. They "care", but only about expanding recklessly and doing absolute minimum to keep their market. It's prudent corporate behavior. http://www.apnewsarchive.com/2017/Facebook-is-adding-500-more-contractors-in-Germany-to-review-content-posted-to-the-social-media-site-after-a-new-law-came-into-force-targeting-online-hate-speech/id-e1ac98f540b44137a612d6c309744bd4 http://www.apnewsarchive.com/2017/Facebook-is-adding-500-mor...
- azernik 9y agoIn Burma the government isn't going to block Facebook to get it to intervene, like Sri Lanka did. They're running the genocide, after all!
- pitaj 9y agoSo should Facebook just censor whatever posts governments say they should? Where do you draw the line?
- azernik 9y agoThey should make a decision. In this case, they didn't care enough to censor anything, whether the complaints came from the government or from individuals. The important role the government played here was in using its power to force Facebook to the table; if the government hadn't stepped in, Facebook should still have responded to reports of incitement to violence.