4 ms·

My guess is a slew of "closely monitored" Facebook groups eagerly shared the article the moment it was posted and some machine intelligence auto-moderator immed

My guess is a slew of "closely monitored" Facebook groups eagerly shared the article the moment it was posted and some machine intelligence auto-moderator immediately added it to a blacklist without any human oversight. The article itself is pretty even-keeled (although has that typical New York Post editorialized spin). The article mentions other, unaffiliated BLM groups have already demanded transparency to where Cullors' income came from, and the amount spent isn't completely absurd for a best-selling writer, culture advisor, and public figure. Blocking the article and spreading buzz about the abbreviated version of the article is definitely bad news. Someone needs to tell the product owners at Facebook that if they want to auto-moderate media across the United States, they should read the wikipedia article about the Streisand effect.

jokethrowaway 6y ago
Considering they did this only for the BLM founder and for Hunter Biden laptop, I would say it's probably human action.
- stretchymantis 5y ago
  It's a reasonable decision to make if ya think about it. First, Facebook has been under massive scrutiny recently for not exerting more control over combating fake news, fake accounts, posts that depict or could incite violence, etc... Second, because she's leader of the BLM movement, I think everyone would agree that she is at a greater than average risk for being targeted with violence. If your position at a company requires you to identify such conditions and attempt to reduce this risk if possible, you'd likely feel a sense of responsibility to block the article. Finally, given their recent string of negative media attention, finding themselves in the spotlight with accusations that they contributed to her harm were she to be attacked, is something they're likely keen on avoiding.
thinkingemote 6y ago
This Newsweek article is also banned. I don't think this one is automatic but I guess it could be. How can one tell?
kebman 5y ago
They can expect to be fined millions of Euros by a great many European countries if they illegally censor private conversations through their platform, due to European law on the matter. Many countries over here have free speech laws that aren't as gimped as the American Constitution (i.e. that it's limited to state institutions and not muh private company).
- rendall 5y ago
  Europe doesn't have strong free speech laws so much as strong individual privacy laws.
  - kebman 5y ago
    Well, I'm not an expert on European law, so I can only speak for my own country of Norway, who do indeed seem to have stronger legal support for free speech compared to the USA in this narrow instance, since our law also encompasses private organizations and companies. Well, at least in theory, since enforcement is of course another topic entirely. But then Norway does not have monopolistic communications companies like Facebook domestically. On the other hand Norwegian law is still applicable to Facebook so long as they serve Norwegians. This means that if someone with enough resources feel that his toes have been stepped on, then you can expect a law suit that Facebook may very well lose. Moreover strong organizations might take class action if they feel their customer or member base is being treated unfairly, especially if they think Facebook is somehow skewing Norwegian elections in their disfavour. Again, due to our strong law on freedom of speech (Norwegian Constitution § 100), Facebook might very well lose such a law suit if it were to happen.

jokethrowaway 6y ago

Considering they did this only for the BLM founder and for Hunter Biden laptop, I would say it's probably human action.

stretchymantis 5y ago
It's a reasonable decision to make if ya think about it. First, Facebook has been under massive scrutiny recently for not exerting more control over combating fake news, fake accounts, posts that depict or could incite violence, etc... Second, because she's leader of the BLM movement, I think everyone would agree that she is at a greater than average risk for being targeted with violence. If your position at a company requires you to identify such conditions and attempt to reduce this risk if possible, you'd likely feel a sense of responsibility to block the article. Finally, given their recent string of negative media attention, finding themselves in the spotlight with accusations that they contributed to her harm were she to be attacked, is something they're likely keen on avoiding.

thinkingemote 6y ago

This Newsweek article is also banned. I don't think this one is automatic but I guess it could be. How can one tell?

kebman 5y ago

They can expect to be fined millions of Euros by a great many European countries if they illegally censor private conversations through their platform, due to European law on the matter. Many countries over here have free speech laws that aren't as gimped as the American Constitution (i.e. that it's limited to state institutions and not muh private company).

rendall 5y ago
Europe doesn't have strong free speech laws so much as strong individual privacy laws.
- kebman 5y ago
  Well, I'm not an expert on European law, so I can only speak for my own country of Norway, who do indeed seem to have stronger legal support for free speech compared to the USA in this narrow instance, since our law also encompasses private organizations and companies. Well, at least in theory, since enforcement is of course another topic entirely. But then Norway does not have monopolistic communications companies like Facebook domestically. On the other hand Norwegian law is still applicable to Facebook so long as they serve Norwegians. This means that if someone with enough resources feel that his toes have been stepped on, then you can expect a law suit that Facebook may very well lose. Moreover strong organizations might take class action if they feel their customer or member base is being treated unfairly, especially if they think Facebook is somehow skewing Norwegian elections in their disfavour. Again, due to our strong law on freedom of speech (Norwegian Constitution § 100), Facebook might very well lose such a law suit if it were to happen.