Be more transparent about censorship, advocacy groups ask Facebook
Posted on: 21/Jan/2017 12:39:18 PM
77 advocacy groups have written a letter to Facebook asking it to be more transparent about its censorship decisions.
The groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), asked the social network to be more transparent about its censorship decisions and sought a report that compiles data on the company`s censorship decisions.
According to reports, in the letter, Facebook was accused of a lack of transparency and racially-biased censorship under which, it disproportionately censored posts from people of colour -- especially posts with political speech and critiques of law enforcement.
The letter read, Even as activists have been censored for political speech and for posting images critical of government actors -- including police officers -- Facebook`s third-party complaint process has failed to prevent the spread of violent threats and harassment by white supremacist hate groups on your platform. The third-party complaint process is Facebook`s practice of hiring outside groups to sort through posts flagged as potential hate speech.
Last year, a woman used the Facebook`s Live Video service to live-stream a video of her fiancé, Philando Castile, after he was shot by police. Facebook temporarily removed the video and faced flak for doing so. Similarly in September, Facebook initially took down a post that featured the iconic Vietnam War photo Napalm Girl because it featured a naked child.
The groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), asked the social network to be more transparent about its censorship decisions and sought a report that compiles data on the company`s censorship decisions.
According to reports, in the letter, Facebook was accused of a lack of transparency and racially-biased censorship under which, it disproportionately censored posts from people of colour -- especially posts with political speech and critiques of law enforcement.
The letter read, Even as activists have been censored for political speech and for posting images critical of government actors -- including police officers -- Facebook`s third-party complaint process has failed to prevent the spread of violent threats and harassment by white supremacist hate groups on your platform. The third-party complaint process is Facebook`s practice of hiring outside groups to sort through posts flagged as potential hate speech.
Last year, a woman used the Facebook`s Live Video service to live-stream a video of her fiancé, Philando Castile, after he was shot by police. Facebook temporarily removed the video and faced flak for doing so. Similarly in September, Facebook initially took down a post that featured the iconic Vietnam War photo Napalm Girl because it featured a naked child.
