3 ms·

WhatsApp shuts down Taliban helpline in Kabul

10 points by LinuxBender 5y ago

rvz 5y ago
Imagine putting an 'emergency helpline' on WhatsApp and using that as a replacement for emergency numbers, not knowing that Facebook can ban the number. Oh wait. [0] [0] https://www.ft.com/content/d8e29de8-aebb-4f10-a91e-89d454d4a9f7 https://www.ft.com/content/d8e29de8-aebb-4f10-a91e-89d454d4a...
criticaltinker 5y ago
> Facebook, the owner of WhatsApp, said it had blocked the number on Tuesday, along with other “official Taliban channels,” and added that it was actively scanning group names, descriptions and profile pictures on the messaging app to try to prevent the Taliban from using it. > Facebook said: “The Taliban is sanctioned as a terrorist organization under US law and we have banned them from our services. This means we remove accounts maintained by or on behalf of the Taliban and prohibit praise, support, and representation of them. > “Preventing communication between people and the Taliban doesn’t help Afghans, it is just grandstanding,” said Ashley Jackson, a former Red Cross and Oxfam aid worker in Afghanistan Yeah talk about grandstanding - as the article mentions, why wasn't this done years ago then? I'm sure Taliban members are smart enough to avoid obvious "group names, descriptions and profile pictures". It's sad that the people most affected by this decision will likely be innocent folks who genuinely need help.
caseyross 5y ago
It's ironic, because Facebook loves to talk a big line about "connecting the world". But when the "wrong" people benefit from that connection, they find themselves swiftly cut off. Now, I'm not saying it's wrong to cut people out of the network. (As we've seen quite recently in the US, deplatforming is quite effective at reducing the spread of extremism.) But I think this particular incident demonstrates that there's an inherent paradox in trying to "grow the network" while also attempting to keep out "bad actors", one that can't be resolved entirely through automated tools, or simple sets of binary rules. Situations like this one are always going to be a judgement call, where a real person has to decide who's right, and who's left (out). And I think the prospect of having that duty, of taking on the responsibility of judgement, scares Big Tech's executives more than anything else.

10 points by LinuxBender 5y ago

rvz 5y ago

Imagine putting an 'emergency helpline' on WhatsApp and using that as a replacement for emergency numbers, not knowing that Facebook can ban the number. Oh wait. [0] [0] https://www.ft.com/content/d8e29de8-aebb-4f10-a91e-89d454d4a9f7 https://www.ft.com/content/d8e29de8-aebb-4f10-a91e-89d454d4a...

criticaltinker 5y ago

> Facebook, the owner of WhatsApp, said it had blocked the number on Tuesday, along with other “official Taliban channels,” and added that it was actively scanning group names, descriptions and profile pictures on the messaging app to try to prevent the Taliban from using it. > Facebook said: “The Taliban is sanctioned as a terrorist organization under US law and we have banned them from our services. This means we remove accounts maintained by or on behalf of the Taliban and prohibit praise, support, and representation of them. > “Preventing communication between people and the Taliban doesn’t help Afghans, it is just grandstanding,” said Ashley Jackson, a former Red Cross and Oxfam aid worker in Afghanistan Yeah talk about grandstanding - as the article mentions, why wasn't this done years ago then? I'm sure Taliban members are smart enough to avoid obvious "group names, descriptions and profile pictures". It's sad that the people most affected by this decision will likely be innocent folks who genuinely need help.

caseyross 5y ago

It's ironic, because Facebook loves to talk a big line about "connecting the world". But when the "wrong" people benefit from that connection, they find themselves swiftly cut off. Now, I'm not saying it's wrong to cut people out of the network. (As we've seen quite recently in the US, deplatforming is quite effective at reducing the spread of extremism.) But I think this particular incident demonstrates that there's an inherent paradox in trying to "grow the network" while also attempting to keep out "bad actors", one that can't be resolved entirely through automated tools, or simple sets of binary rules. Situations like this one are always going to be a judgement call, where a real person has to decide who's right, and who's left (out). And I think the prospect of having that duty, of taking on the responsibility of judgement, scares Big Tech's executives more than anything else.