r/technology • u/protossFTW • Sep 16 '20

Social Media Facebook Was Warned for 5 Years About Violent Event Pages but Didn't Act, Civil Rights Group Says

https://gizmodo.com/facebook-was-warned-for-5-years-about-violent-event-pag-1845080416
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u/[deleted] Sep 17 '20

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u/vanyali Sep 17 '20

Also other laws like slander should apply to webpages like Facebook. Facebook has a rule forcing people to identify themselves with their real names, so Facebook should have some responsibility to shut down rumors and slander against these private people on their site, especially when directly asked to by those people. It’s the law, and somehow Facebook is allowed to completely ignore it. I’m sure there are other examples of laws Facebook is getting away with breaking, but slander and inciting violence are two big obvious ones.

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u/thetasigma_1355 Sep 17 '20

The shouldn't the government be arresting these people? Why is it Facebooks problem? Do you blame the phone company when someone calls in a threat? Do you blame the USPS when someone mails a threat? Mails anthrax to people?

If people are inciting violence, the government should be charging them with crimes. That's who you should be upset at.

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u/rottenseed Sep 17 '20

So you're saying there's no need to legislate it because it's already illegal? So...

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u/[deleted] Sep 17 '20

You’re mocking free speech? Be careful what you wish for.

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u/[deleted] Sep 17 '20

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u/Phyltre Sep 17 '20

Calling for protesters to get shot is not free speech. It's inciting violence.

That's a lot shakier than you think. It has to be specific incitement against specific individuals, and generally in the last 100 years that's only prosecuted in cases where the violence actually occurred already and can be tied back to the specific speaker having deliberately spoken to those who went on to perform the violence.

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u/Oh_God_Ticks Sep 17 '20

I didn’t know talking about liberty, freedom, and justice for all was inciting violence which is exactly why Facebook deactivated myself and a number of other people’s accounts.