Taibbi: Beware the Slippery Slope of Facebook Censorship

["Dave Farber" <farber () gmail com>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>
> Date: August 3, 2018 at 00:03:41 GMT+9
> To: Multiple recipients of Dewayne-Net <dewayne-net () warpspeed com>
> Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Taibbi: Beware the Slippery Slope of Facebook Censorship
> Reply-To: dewayne-net () warpspeed com
>
> Taibbi: Beware the Slippery Slope of Facebook Censorship
> The social network is too big and broken to properly function, and these “fixes” will only create more problems
> By MATT TAIBBI
> Aug 2 2018
> <https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/facebook-censor-alex-jones-705766/>
>
> You may have seen a story this week detailing how Facebook shut down a series of accounts. As noted by Politico, 
> Facebook claimed these accounts “sought to inflame social and political tensions in the United States, and said their 
> activity was similar — and in some cases connected — to that of Russian accounts during the 2016 election.”
>
> Similar? What does “similar” mean?
>
> The death-pit for civil liberties is usually found in a combination of fringe/unpopular people or ideas and a 
> national security emergency.
>
> This is where we are with this unsettling new confab of Facebook, Congress and the Trump administration.
>
> Read this jarring quote from Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) about the shutting down of the “inauthentic” accounts:
>
> “Today’s disclosure is further evidence that the Kremlin continues to exploit platforms like Facebook to sow division 
> and spread disinformation… I also expect Facebook, along with other platform companies, will continue to identify 
> Russian troll activity and to work with Congress…”
>
> This was in a story in which Facebook stated that it did not know the source of all the pages. They might be Russian, 
> or they might just be Warner’s idea of “sowing division.” Are we comfortable with that range of possibilities?
>
> Many of the banned pages look like parodies of some paranoid bureaucrat’s idea of dangerous speech.
>
> A page called “Black Elevation” shows a picture of Huey Newton and offers readers a job. “Aztlan Warriors” contains a 
> meme celebrating the likes of Geronimo and Zapata, giving thanks for their service in the “the 500 year war against 
> colonialism.”
>
> And a banned “Mindful Being” page shared this, which seems culled from Jack Handey’s Deep Thoughts bit:
>
> “We must unlearn what we have learned because a conditioned mind cannot comprehend the infinite.”
>
> Facebook also wiped out a “No Unite The Right 2” page, appearing to advertise a counter-rally on the upcoming 
> anniversary of the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia.
>
> Facebook was “helped” in its efforts to wipe out these dangerous memes by the Atlantic Council, on whose board you’ll 
> find confidence-inspiring names like Henry Kissinger, former CIA chief Michael Hayden, former acting CIA head Michael 
> Morelland former Bush-era Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff. (The latter is the guy who used to bring you the 
> insane color-coded terror threat level system.)
>
> These people now have their hands on what is essentially a direct lever over nationwide news distribution. It’s hard 
> to understate the potential mischief that lurks behind this union of Internet platforms and would-be government 
> censors.
>
> As noted in Rolling Stone earlier this year, 70 percent of Americans get their news from just two sources, Facebook 
> and Google. As that number rises, the power of just a few people to decide what information does and does not reach 
> the public will amplify significantly.
>
> In a way, this is the other shoe dropping after last week’s much-publicized brouhaha over Infowars lunatic Alex 
> Jones. Jones had four videos removed from YouTube and had his Facebook page banned for 30 days, though he seemed to 
> find a way around that more or less instantly.
>
> These moves were celebrated across social media, because who doesn’t hate Alex Jones?
>
> The complainants in the Jones case included parents of Sandy Hook victims, who have legitimate beef with Jones and 
> his conspiratorial coverage. The Infowars reports asserting the grieving parents were green-screen fakes were not 
> just demonstrably false and rightfully the subject of a defamation suit, but also seemingly crossed a separate line 
> when they published maps and addresses of family members, who experienced threats.
>
> When Jones and his like-minded pals cried censorship and bias, they came across as more than a little disingenuous. 
> After all, right-wingers have consistently argued on behalf of the speech rights of big corporations.
>
> [snip]
>
> Dewayne-Net RSS Feed: http://dewaynenet.wordpress.com/feed/
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/wa8dzp



-------------------------------------------
Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now
Modify Your Subscription: https://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=18849915
Unsubscribe Now: 
https://www.listbox.com/unsubscribe/?member_id=18849915&id_secret=18849915-a538de84&post_id=20180802225427:8747158C-96C8-11E8-A9F4-F091A88D5F44
Powered by Listbox: https://www.listbox.com