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I am confused by this statement and don't understand: "But as Mai Khoi discovered, Vietnamese Facebook is also plagued by unofficial censorship, achieved not b

by pgrote 6y ago

I am confused by this statement and don't understand: "But as Mai Khoi discovered, Vietnamese Facebook is also plagued by unofficial censorship, achieved not by declaring content illegal but by coordinating users to flag it for violating Facebook’s own content rules, known as the “Community Standards.” This dupes Facebook into removing ordinary political speech as though it were hate speech, violent incitement, or gory video." Is the reporting stating that Facebook in Vietnam forces users to flag things on a list from the government? Or does it mean Facebook in Vietnam removes items the community has flagged? If the government isn't forcing the censorship then how is what Facebook does in Vietnam different that anywhere else? Users flag things, Facebook removes them.

tuankiet65 6y ago
It means there are Facebook pages/groups coordinating their followers to mass report posts or persons deemed "reactionary". These pages/groups mostly held pro-government viewpoints, although I can't comment on whether they have direct affiliation with the government or not. From what I've seen, many Facebook profiles gets locked after such campaigns. I assume a profile is automatically locked when the reports reach a certain threshold, and it can be very difficult to get it unlocked, since you need to contact Facebook directly. From the article itself: > Private groups filled with government partisans coordinate takedown campaigns — or worse — against any views deemed “reactionary” by the Vietnamese state, [...] > The Intercept was able to gain access to one such closed-door Vietnamese censorship brigade, named “E47,” where it’s obvious, through Facebook’s apparent indifference, that the company has failed its users terribly.
- pgrote 6y ago
  Thank you for the explanation. Unsure how I wasn't putting 2+2 together. Facebook presumably does have rules against brigading.
  - alisonkisk 6y ago
    Facebook only really cares about the big profitable countries/languages, and whatever gets them access to a small country. They don't invest in cultural engagement to be good stewards of small/poor language communities

by pgrote 6y ago

tuankiet65 6y ago

It means there are Facebook pages/groups coordinating their followers to mass report posts or persons deemed "reactionary". These pages/groups mostly held pro-government viewpoints, although I can't comment on whether they have direct affiliation with the government or not. From what I've seen, many Facebook profiles gets locked after such campaigns. I assume a profile is automatically locked when the reports reach a certain threshold, and it can be very difficult to get it unlocked, since you need to contact Facebook directly. From the article itself: > Private groups filled with government partisans coordinate takedown campaigns — or worse — against any views deemed “reactionary” by the Vietnamese state, [...] > The Intercept was able to gain access to one such closed-door Vietnamese censorship brigade, named “E47,” where it’s obvious, through Facebook’s apparent indifference, that the company has failed its users terribly.

pgrote 6y ago
Thank you for the explanation. Unsure how I wasn't putting 2+2 together. Facebook presumably does have rules against brigading.
- alisonkisk 6y ago
  Facebook only really cares about the big profitable countries/languages, and whatever gets them access to a small country. They don't invest in cultural engagement to be good stewards of small/poor language communities