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FACEBOOK DOESN'T ENFORCE ITS OWN STANDARDS ON HATE SPEECH
Triple Pundit
Feb 11 2015
Gina-Marie Cheeseman | Wednesday February 11th, 2015
Hate speech and the Internet can go hand-in-hand, including on
Facebook. It recently came to my attention that Facebook does not
enforce its own standards regarding hate speech. While scrolling
through posts on my Facebook feed, I came across a post about an
anti-Armenian group. The name of the said group was "F-k Armenia." The
posts in the group were very derogatory of Armenia and Armenians.
Using "F-k Armenia" as a search term turned up about 10 other groups
with that name.
There is a context to the proliferation of anti-Armenian Facebook
groups that many may not know. This year on April 24, Armenians
worldwide will mark the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the
Armenian genocide perpetrated by the Turkish government. About 1.5
million Armenians, or 3 out of every 4 Armenians living under the
Ottoman Turkish empire, were murdered. To this day the Turkish
government refuses to recognize the genocide and continues its
campaign of denial, even going to the extreme of stating that Armenians
murdered Turks.
There are over 11,000 members of the Facebook group "I am a Descendant
of a Survivor of the Armenian Genocide," and judging by the comments
on the post regarding the anti-Armenian page, many, including me,
reported the anti-Armenian group. What we received back from Facebook
was the following message:
"Thank you for taking the time to report something that you feel may
violate our Community Standards. Reports like yours are an important
part of making Facebook a safe and welcoming environment. We reviewed
the Page you reported for containing hate speech or symbols and found
it doesn't violate our Community Standards."
Looking at the hate speech section of Facebook's Community Standards,
it becomes apparent that the anti-Armenian groups are considered hate
speech by those very standards:
"Facebook does not permit hate speech, but distinguishes between
serious and humorous speech. While we encourage you to challenge ideas,
institutions, events, and practices, we do not permit individuals
or groups to attack others based on their race, ethnicity, national
origin, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, disability or
medical condition."
Anti-Armenian groups are not the only racist groups on Facebook. There
are also groups called "F-k Mexico" and "F-k Azerbaijan." I reported
every hate group I came across and received the same message that I
posted above.
Only one page was removed by Facebook, and that is the initial
anti-Armenian page I learned about. Many others also reported it.
Clearly, it takes a good amount of pressure for Facebook to take down
racist sites and adhere to its own standards.
http://www.triplepundit.com/2015/02/facebook-doesnt-enforce-standards-hate-speech/
From: A. Papazian
Triple Pundit
Feb 11 2015
Gina-Marie Cheeseman | Wednesday February 11th, 2015
Hate speech and the Internet can go hand-in-hand, including on
Facebook. It recently came to my attention that Facebook does not
enforce its own standards regarding hate speech. While scrolling
through posts on my Facebook feed, I came across a post about an
anti-Armenian group. The name of the said group was "F-k Armenia." The
posts in the group were very derogatory of Armenia and Armenians.
Using "F-k Armenia" as a search term turned up about 10 other groups
with that name.
There is a context to the proliferation of anti-Armenian Facebook
groups that many may not know. This year on April 24, Armenians
worldwide will mark the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the
Armenian genocide perpetrated by the Turkish government. About 1.5
million Armenians, or 3 out of every 4 Armenians living under the
Ottoman Turkish empire, were murdered. To this day the Turkish
government refuses to recognize the genocide and continues its
campaign of denial, even going to the extreme of stating that Armenians
murdered Turks.
There are over 11,000 members of the Facebook group "I am a Descendant
of a Survivor of the Armenian Genocide," and judging by the comments
on the post regarding the anti-Armenian page, many, including me,
reported the anti-Armenian group. What we received back from Facebook
was the following message:
"Thank you for taking the time to report something that you feel may
violate our Community Standards. Reports like yours are an important
part of making Facebook a safe and welcoming environment. We reviewed
the Page you reported for containing hate speech or symbols and found
it doesn't violate our Community Standards."
Looking at the hate speech section of Facebook's Community Standards,
it becomes apparent that the anti-Armenian groups are considered hate
speech by those very standards:
"Facebook does not permit hate speech, but distinguishes between
serious and humorous speech. While we encourage you to challenge ideas,
institutions, events, and practices, we do not permit individuals
or groups to attack others based on their race, ethnicity, national
origin, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, disability or
medical condition."
Anti-Armenian groups are not the only racist groups on Facebook. There
are also groups called "F-k Mexico" and "F-k Azerbaijan." I reported
every hate group I came across and received the same message that I
posted above.
Only one page was removed by Facebook, and that is the initial
anti-Armenian page I learned about. Many others also reported it.
Clearly, it takes a good amount of pressure for Facebook to take down
racist sites and adhere to its own standards.
http://www.triplepundit.com/2015/02/facebook-doesnt-enforce-standards-hate-speech/
From: A. Papazian