Facebook Cooperating With Israeli And US Governments To Censor Content

Facebook has frequently come under fire for its seemingly questionable moves in determining what is or isn't acceptable for users to see or post on its platform.

Last year, it was reported that Facebook was working with government agents in the US and Israel, to try and control incitement on social media. The joint effort was allegedly seeking to remove posts from the platform that promote any kind of anti-Israeli sentiment.

And that wasn't the first time that such claims have been made.

Previously, it's been speculated that Facebook has been silencing users who make posts about the Myanmar Rohingya crisis. And they've also received plenty of criticism previously for having removed any posts that contained the historic image of the Napalm girl featured in a Pulitzer Prize-winning photo that was taken during the Vietnam War.

Apparently the image contents violated the ban on child nudity that Facebook has in place. It's interesting though that on other occasions people will claim that Facebook is slow to removing questionable posts that might relate to child abuse. In some instances, allegedly failing to remove those child abuse posts for well over a year.

After many people criticized that move of theirs, to crackdown on the Napalm Girl imagery, they backtracked and admitted that the image had historical significance.

It's alleged that Israeli officials have already submitted hundreds of requests to Facebook to have certain posts removed.

And the company has accepted and acted on a great deal of those requests. Facebook officials are cooperating with Israeli officials to decide what posts are going to be deemed “hate speech” and what might or might not be considered as “incitement”.

Israeli security agencies allegedly frequently monitor the platform, looking for posts that might constitute incitement.

In recent months, it's alleged that Facebook has been on a purge and has been cracking down on Palestinian activists who make posts against the current Israeli occupation. And Israeli officials have allegedly been boasting publicly about the compliance of the tech giant. They also don't seem to show the same crackdown effort when it comes to removing posts calling for violence against Palestinians and other groups.

Journalists also say that they've been censored and booted from Facebook after making anti-government posts. And if people are going to have their message censored on the platform then it's only a matter of time before they go looking for other options.

It's a little strange when you've got the biggest social network in the world enabling live streams of assaults and murders and then removing Vietnam War photos and posts heavy in anti-government rhetoric. They don't seem to employ the same crackdown methods on American public figures when they post, calling for aggression against their enemies overseas. There's not much sense to the madness.

Facebook and other tech giants are likely to submit to and obey the world's most powerful factions and therefore power is going to drive the censorship. And quite often it will be innocent critics who are getting swept up in the hate speech battle. For those who think that Facebook is there to provide marginalized groups with a tool to help them fight, to have their voices heard, that might be a bit of a pipe dream. It's safe to assume that they are going to want certain critics to be silenced.

Pics:
via Vocativ
via Forbes
via Wired

Sources:
https://theintercept.com/2016/09/12/facebook-is-collaborating-with-the-israeli-government-to-determine-what-should-be-censored/
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/27/world/asia/myanmar-government-facebook-rohingya.html
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/sep/20/facebook-rohingya-muslims-myanmar
http://www.vocativ.com/431298/facebook-journalist-malta-censorship/index.html
https://theintercept.com/2017/12/30/facebook-says-it-is-deleting-accounts-at-the-direction-of-the-u-s-and-israeli-governments/
https://www.wired.com/story/facebook-too-big-to-delete/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/shenegotiates/2011/09/15/want-peace-remind-opponent-that-people-change/#52577e2371a4
https://sputniknews.com/science/201712301060438026-dangers-of-facebook-censorship/

Related Posts:

The 'Facebook Effect' On How We Manage Personal Relationships

https://steemit.com/psychology/@doitvoluntarily/the-facebook-effect-on-how-we-manage-personal-relationships

Facebook Fails To Remove Child Abuse Posts For Over A Year

https://steemit.com/facebook/@doitvoluntarily/facebook-fails-to-remove-child-abuse-posts-for-over-a-year