“In a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, an academic lawyer specializing in human rights, contended the social networking giant erroneously categorizes all non-state actors using violent means for political and social purposes as terror groups. ‘The use of such a sweeping definition is particularly worrying in light of a number of governments seeking to stigmatize diverse forms of dissent and opposition (whether peaceful or violent) as terrorism,’ wrote Ní Aoláin.
But that’s exactly what Facebook itself is doing: stigmatizing diverse forms of dissent and opposition, whether peaceful or violent. If they don’t call it “terrorism,” they call it “far-right extremism” or “fake news.” We are seeing an unprecedented erosion in our First Amendment rights, increasingly prohibiting the flow of ideas and free expression in the public square (social media). Run by left-wing self-possessed snowflakes, social media giants are indulging their worst autocratic impulses. And because they can, it is getting worse. “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
Having been one of the early targets of social media censorship on Facebook, YouTube et al, I have advocated for anti-trust action against these bullying behemoths. Early last year, I wrote: “The US government has used anti-trust laws to break up monopolies. They ought to break up Facebook. Section 2 of the Sherman Act highlights particular results deemed anticompetitive by nature and prohibits actions that ‘shall monopolize, or attempt to monopolize, or combine or conspire with any other person or persons, to monopolize any part of the trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations.’ Couldn’t the same be applied to information? The United States government took down Standard Oil, Alcoa, Northern Securities, the American Tobacco Company and many others without nearly the power that Facebook has.”
Under Islamic law, you cannot criticize Islam. Facebook is adhering to the most extreme and brutal ideology on the face of the earth, and that should trouble all of us, because Mark Zuckerberg has immense power. He controls the flow of information. This must be stopped. Our First Amendment freedom of speech is at stake.
“U.N. Expert Asks Facebook to Label Fewer Violent Activist Groups ‘Terrorists,’” by Joshua Caplan, Breitbart, September 3, 2018 (thanks to Todd):
A United Nations expert is calling on Facebook to limit the scope of its “sweeping,” definition of terrorism over concerns it facilitates the suppression of legitimate dissenting voices.
In a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, an academic lawyer specializing in human rights, contended the social networking giant erroneously categorizes all non-state actors using violent means for political and social purposes as terror groups. “The use of such a sweeping definition is particularly worrying in light of a number of governments seeking to stigmatize diverse forms of dissent and opposition (whether peaceful or violent) as terrorism,” wrote Ní Aoláin.
Ní Aoláin acknowledges that while Facebook plays an “important role,” in “offsetting terrorist activity online”, the U.N. special rapporteur says the Silicon Valley behemoth must protect the human rights of its users and allow for groups to appeal when labeled a terror group. “[I]t is unclear how Facebook determines when a person belongs to a particular group and whether the respective group or person are given the opportunity to meaningfully challenge such determination,” she wrote.
More broadly, Ní Aoláin’s warned the social network’s definition of terror could lead to “discriminatory implementation, over-censoring and arbitrary denial of access to and use of Facebook’s services.”
Ra’ad al-Hussein, the outgoing U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, criticized Facebook last week after the technology giant banned various high-ranking Myanmar military officials accused of “genocide” against Rohingya Muslims….
Courtesy of Freedom Outpost
Article posted with permission from Pamela Geller
Pamela Geller is the founder, editor and publisher of PamelaGeller.com and President of the American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI) and Stop Islamization of America (SIOA). She is the author of The Post-American Presidency: The Obama Administration’s War on America, (foreword by Ambassador John Bolton), (Simon & Schuster). Stop the Islamization of America: A Practical Guide to the Resistance. She is also a regular columnist for World Net Daily, the American Thinker, and other publications. Follow her on Facebook & Twitter
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