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Facebook Says ‘Death to Khamenei’ Posts Are OK for the Next Two Weeks

15 points by davweb 5y ago

mimixco 5y ago
A platform that claims it's about "bringing people together" is now the arbiter of when it's ok to publicly call for someone's death. Terrific.
- theandrewbailey 5y ago
  Considering its actions over the past several years, Facebook has been the arbiter of a bunch of other positions, too. I'm stunned that Facebook has sided with leaving posts up and unaltered in this case.
tinus_hn 5y ago
It’s actually quite surprising they have an official position about people in Iran. Doesn’t the embargo cover this?
noduerme 5y ago
"Death to America" is a traditional greeting in Iran. But a couple weeks a year, Iranians enjoy wishing death to other people, such as Israel, or their own dictatorship. I think it's great that Facebook is culturally sensitive enough to accommodate the diversity of Iranian murder demands.
peanut_worm 5y ago
Facebook is trying to be the CIA now apparently
- pbak 5y ago
  And one day you'll learn how large their cybersecurity team actually is and who has contracts with them...
bellyfullofbac 5y ago
I've read that (can't find the citation) "Death to X!" is basically like a "God damnit!" curse, e.g. they'd say "Death to this traffic jam!" if stuck in traffic, but western news reports fail to bring the context. Again, maybe not true. I wonder if they should just change the phrase to something like "I wish kittens for Khamenei!", but letting everyone know off-channel that this sentence means wishing him ill. How you gonna deal with that, Zuck?
- Galaxity 5y ago
  I do remember that Rick Steves, the fellow with the PBS travel show, said that's what it meant and how it's used when he went to Iran. It still comes across a bit harsh and awkward for me.
- unmole 5y ago
  The Farsi expression is apparently Marg bar. The Hindustani expression Murdabad which seems to be derived from Farsi definitely is used as a generic curse in India.
supergirl 5y ago
it's hilarious how they find loopholes in their own rules when it fits their agenda

15 points by davweb 5y ago

A platform that claims it's about "bringing people together" is now the arbiter of when it's ok to publicly call for someone's death. Terrific.

theandrewbailey 5y ago
Considering its actions over the past several years, Facebook has been the arbiter of a bunch of other positions, too. I'm stunned that Facebook has sided with leaving posts up and unaltered in this case.

tinus_hn 5y ago

It’s actually quite surprising they have an official position about people in Iran. Doesn’t the embargo cover this?

noduerme 5y ago

"Death to America" is a traditional greeting in Iran. But a couple weeks a year, Iranians enjoy wishing death to other people, such as Israel, or their own dictatorship. I think it's great that Facebook is culturally sensitive enough to accommodate the diversity of Iranian murder demands.

peanut_worm 5y ago

Facebook is trying to be the CIA now apparently

pbak 5y ago
And one day you'll learn how large their cybersecurity team actually is and who has contracts with them...

bellyfullofbac 5y ago

I've read that (can't find the citation) "Death to X!" is basically like a "God damnit!" curse, e.g. they'd say "Death to this traffic jam!" if stuck in traffic, but western news reports fail to bring the context. Again, maybe not true. I wonder if they should just change the phrase to something like "I wish kittens for Khamenei!", but letting everyone know off-channel that this sentence means wishing him ill. How you gonna deal with that, Zuck?

Galaxity 5y ago
I do remember that Rick Steves, the fellow with the PBS travel show, said that's what it meant and how it's used when he went to Iran. It still comes across a bit harsh and awkward for me.
unmole 5y ago
The Farsi expression is apparently Marg bar. The Hindustani expression Murdabad which seems to be derived from Farsi definitely is used as a generic curse in India.

supergirl 5y ago

it's hilarious how they find loopholes in their own rules when it fits their agenda