In the backdrop of appeals by India to remove hate posts, world’s largest social networking website Facebook today said it will remove content, block pages or even disable accounts of those users who upload contents that incite violence or perpetuate hate speech.
Comprehending the gravity, Facebook’s stern warning to its users comes in the wake of the Indian government bringing to its notice the posting of contents, including inflammatory matters and doctored pictures and videos to create social unrest in the country.
via Facebook to remove content that incite violence, hate speech.
Isn’t this going against all the motions towards free speech and thought ?
This has the potential to go very badly… when does the control go too far ? Will it still be possible to speak up against laws, governments, and other public authorities if they are not serving us as they should ? Anything can be twisted to be inciting violence and hate – take, for example, Pussy Riot – despite their questionable antics, they are still advocating for freedom of expression, something that many have died defending.
That being said, I’d like to think that this kind of thing goes towards getting rid of those horrible misogynistic and racist pages (like Root Rate). I’m just concerned about what would happen if the authority to do so became corrupt. Internet censorship is dangerous and shouldn’t be treated lightly.